Justified
by little furry cannibals
Summary: Millions of people are homeless and stare longingly from the outside, in. When a werewolf finds his imprint in the last place to be expected, how many social abnormalites does he have to justify to make it work? A/U sort of.
1. Chapter 1

"Two double cheeseburgers, fries and…" Feeling a slight pang of guilt to the promise he had made Kim, Jared added, "A small house salad." Guilt disappearing, Jared slapped the menu closed and grinned at his friend, waiting for him to order.

Paul raised an eyebrow before turning to address the impatient waitress. "Make mine the same minus the rabbit-kibble and add an order of onion rings."

The waitress shoved her pad and pen back into her apron before taking the menus and scurrying off.

"Man, I should've gotten onion rings too," Jared offered mournfully.

"What's up with the side-dish of lettuce? Are you suddenly worried about your weight?" Paul asked scathingly. Neither of them had to worry one damn bit about their caloric intake other than making sure it was a lot. Vegetables didn't have much value in the way of a werewolf diet.

"No, it's Kim. She's worried about her own weight which means I have to worry about mine as well according to her. She doesn't think I eat healthy enough and asked me to make sure I tried to cut back on fried foods and eat a few fruits and vegetables.

"And you don't think you could have gotten away with just asking for extra pickles for your burger?" Paul asked, not really caring one way or another. It wasn't his stomach that would be growling for more food an hour sooner than it normally would. Jared would have to eat five or six salads to accommodate for the calories from onion rings.

"Damn it, Paul! Why didn't you say anything sooner? I could have asked for extra lettuce and tomatoes too."

"Because it amuses me to watch you squirm over the mishaps you find yourself in due to being imprinted."

Jared knew better than to continue to bait Paul on the topic of imprinting. The legends had said it was rare, but true to folklore, most took it for face value and didn't look for missing elements. In every generation of wolves, the family lines and names were recorded along with who was the Alpha and his mate. Any other mate was not considered for recorded value as only the male lines were followed for the remaining pack members.

The rest of the current pack had imprinted with the exception of Paul. He never spoke of it outwardly, constantly praising the joys of a single man's life and the bed variety he switched every couple of weeks. It was during celebrations and holidays, when the pack got together with their imprints, that Paul's nonchalance was a shield of longing. He may be a possessive, intolerable asshole, but if he ever imprinted, those feelings would mellow and become redirected towards a single love. That was the pack's hope anyways.

Shrugging indifference, Jared went along with Paul's reasoning. "Go ahead and be amused. Next time Emily asks me what type of dessert she should make, I'll tell her you requested prunes."

"With enough sugar and breading, I'm sure I could manage."

Jared couldn't stop his laugh. "Yeah, Paul, you probably could."

Looking around the covered patio of diners, Paul leaned back in his chair to avoid the awkward conversation his friend was sure to bring up. Any time the wolves gathered together more than one would take the opportunity to comment about Paul's lifestyle.

"So, Paul, how is Amy doing these days? I haven't seen her around the Rez lately," Jared commented slyly. Paul's non-imprinted status was an entirely different topic than not having an imprinting.

Paul met Jared's gaze. "You mean Amber?" A shrug. "She's gone."

"She actually broke up with you?" This was news. Paul rarely let a girl come to his house, Amy/Amber being one of the rare exceptions. Kim thought it was because Paul was trying to accommodate for not having an imprint. The wolves thought it was because Paul had decided if a chick stayed the night, he'd get to tap it some more.

"We weren't dating, Jared; we were mutually exclusively fucking each other, just like the rest of the women you insist on labeling as my girlfriends," Paul explained in his fully rational guy-mindset.

"Don't you get tired of it, though?" Jared asked earnestly. "I mean, I can't even imagine being with anyone else, not even if the imprint suddenly disappeared."

The snort Paul gave could be heard half way across the street. "Whatever. If it weren't for that, none of you would still be with the girls you have. Except maybe for Sam, but only because he'd be afraid his old lady would beat the shit out of any other girl he might try to show interest in."

"I don't know…they're kind of perfect for each other. I think even without the wolf side-effects, he'd have stuck around and kept her."

Secretly Paul kind of thought so, too. Not that he had a thing for Sam's girl, far from it. And he wasn't willing to give up the extra curricular pussy he presently engaged in; a different chick once a month who fell into the category of perfect until she started eyeing him with a look of determination.

Frustrated with himself once again, Paul gave up thinking about a long term thing. He wanted someone who was the complete opposite of his own personality and those types of chicks stayed far away.

"…and Kim said she thought you two might be perfect for each other. What do you think?" Jared asked, abruptly disrupting Paul's chaotic musings.

"I think," Paul answered, while flashing polite grins at their waitress as she set their plates down, "that my answer would be hell-fuck-no. Not to that, doll," he said, reaching out to grab the waitress's hand that was quickly retreating with a bottle of hot sauce. With a wink, she placed it back on the table before leaving.

"See, now that right there is your problem," Jared offered when the waitress was out of earshot. Pushing his salad away from his line of sight, he continued. "That waitress could be nice and stuff but your gestures basically said 'Wanna meet up later and get busy?'. If you're going to keep a girl interested in you longer than a couple of weeks, you have to play a little hard-ball."

The large bite of burger Paul had just taken, thumped unattractively back on his plate. "You think I need to act like a dork to keep a girl? I already told you, Jared, I like my arrangements just fine and I'm not about to turn into a monk to keep some chick."

Paul resumed eating, grabbing a handful of onion rings to shove into his mouth. He swallowed hard before adding, "Fuck! That's sounds boring as shit. Why the hell would I want a piece of pussy to be around me and not touch it?"

"You mean fuck it?" Jared sighed under his breath.

"Exactly. That too! I enjoy some roughness in the bed, but I'm not a fucking masochist. No way would I torture myself from having sex just to see if a girl is worth keeping around. That's like those dweebs who buy a bottle of wine and wait fifty fucking years for it to mature before they open it and half the time they can't even do it since they've kept it sealed for so long as is."

"Paul, I don't think you can compare quality relationships to the art of aging fine wines. Although, now that you mention it that could be a nice way to invest some cash. Maybe I should have Kim research it a bit. We could easily store them in the basement. I could even make one of those cool wine racks."

'Are you fucking nuts? Do you know how little return you'd get back on a bottle of wine? There's probably only a two to three hundred percent mark-up value after fifty years. Insurance would cut into that because what the hell would you do if your house suddenly burned down or was robbed? With most policies you'd only get purchase price value back but if you file for a collectors addendum it'd cost a lot more," Pausing mid-discussion/rant, Paul took in Jared's stunned expression.

"And fuck! What the hell am I doing even talking to you about this shit?" Picking up his second burger, Paul tore into the bun. "You and Kim can go on and be merry, secret closet lushes until the end of time. Just leave me out of any match making schemes you two plot together over like junior high school twats."

Choosing to ignore Paul's lack of tact concerning his reason for existence, Jared zeroed in on his friend's abrupt topic. "I didn't even know you knew about investing and collectibles, Paul. What's that about?"

Trying really hard not to chuck the remaining burger across the table at his friend's head, Paul just shook his head sadly. "Look, I know we're a community and all and that our people look out for each other, but I don't want to be impoverished for the rest of my life. I make decent money at work; not grand, but better than being a cart pusher somewhere. I went online and did some searching in bonds, grants, retirement accounts and stuff and it's kind of easy. There were several sites that show you how to start saving bits and pieces, here or there. I'm not going to have enough money to buy a yacht or some shit, but I'd like to know that I can at least be able to afford more than cat food to live on when I get old."

"Wow!" Still staring at Paul like he had never met the man, Jared was impressed. "I mean, Paul the man whore has a portfolio. That's kind of impressive."

"Fuck you, Jared," Paul ribbed good naturedly, watching him pull the salad back towards him. "I'll be laughing my ass off at you when we're eighty-five and I can afford the fancy TV dinners while you're trying to live off of bread and peanut butter for the week."

Feeling better about himself, Paul and Jared joked for the rest of the meal. His life was far from mapped out but he was comforted in knowing that he could handle just about anything life might throw at him.

Anything being like the possibility of staying single for the rest of his life.

* * *

><p>A famished and impoverished girl had seen the two strangers dining earlier at a local shop. Normally she wouldn't have paid them a bit of attention. It was Tuesday which meant the next-door bakery had thrown away their old pastries in the bins out back. They didn't put the trash out until early afternoon just before lunch. It was common for officers to be on the lookout for people like her and most of her kind stayed away when necessary. Today, however, was a huge necessity.<p>

She hadn't eaten in seven, maybe eight days. Her max limit was usually five, but the demons had been disappointed in her usual offerings. It wasn't her fault. The local restrooms she used to clean up in were closed and even lustful men didn't want to be lured by a dirty girl. The last man she had brought to her captors was a rival homeless man. He was old, decrepit and coughed all the time. Bella had heard him crying in his sleep and decided he would probably die anyway due to poor health and harsh living conditions.

Disappointment reigned high when Bella had opened the trash bin to Sweet Delights. Someone, probably that creepy dish-washer, had thrown dirty water on top of all the slightly crusty goodies. Tentaively Bella had tried to sample some of the goo. She wasn't overly picky most of the time and her stomach was so taut, it hurt with every breath.

The water had been mixed with bleach, soap and grease. Her mouth puckered and the small bite she had tried to consume immediately came back up. On her knees and gagging, Bella felt like she was close to the end. If only she could get a few bites of something, anything to stop the stomach pain from pulling her into a consuming pain. On her knees, praying to stop being sick and for some type of miracle, she had spotted the two diners.

They looked like body builders, or foot ball players. Young, well-groomed, well-built and happy, they had sat at a nearby table eating heartily from large plates of food. When her retching had finally stopped, Bella sat hunched over on her knees watching the two men. Mid to late twenties, they laughed while shoveling fries, salad, hamburgers and what-not into their mouths. For just a minute, Bella wondered what it was like. To sit out in public and not be ridiculed, or yelled at, eating freely without wondering if it was your last meal for a very long time and knowing that you had money to pay for what you had bought.

Time meant nothing to Bella other than the difference between night and day. She sat for awhile, watching the men and noticing how others noticed them as well. From the young teenagers to the elderly, the men were watched discreetly. When both pulled out their wallets to pay, Bella gasped as she caught sight. From her distance she couldn't count it, but it was easy to see the bulging amounts of green one of the men had in a leather billfold. It was then that she decided to follow them.

Running along the back alley, Bella decided to get ahead of them. It would be easier to situate herself up ahead and strike rather than trail behind them for an extended period of time. It weakened her window of opportunity, but this was going to be difficult no matter what. At least if she planned for it a few blocks up, she'd have an easier time of making a getaway.

The men's height made it easy to see their approach. Bella tried not to gain the attention of any other pedestrians, shrinking into herself in hopes of looking invisible. When they stopped not a quarter block away and began to talk, she worried they might hail a taxi or go another direction. She couldn't afford such an opportunity to pass and slowly hedged her way in their direction constantly looking back to judge the distance between them and her escape route.

* * *

><p>Seattle crowds weren't really Paul's thing. He wasn't like one of those home-body geeks that refused to live anywhere outside of a town bigger than population five thousand, but people stank; physically and metaphorically. Body after body pushing past each other in a hurry to get wherever they needed to be and unmindful of who or what may be in the way. Paul was kind of like that as well.<p>

There was however an inherent appeal to living in La Push. It was home, always had been for generations past and always would be for generations yet to come. Maybe not any of his future generations, but definitely for his friends like Jared.

"Look, man, I know you don't do this emotional shit real well or anything but I'm glad you agreed to come out here with me," Jared said as the two walked through the mid-day city traffic. "I just needed some back-up cause I know I'm gonna be overwhelmed with this girly shit as soon as I enter the damn store."

"Interesting choice of words –girly shit—in reference to buying your imprint a ring," Paul remarked snidely if not a bit bitterly.

"It is, I know that. You have to understand that even though Kim is my world, I still need some man space. I can't totally hand over my dick to her along with my heart," Jared answered earnestly, once again wearing that goofy, love struck grin on his face.

Slowing his pace, Paul held his arm out in front of Jared. "Shut the hell up before someone thinks we're dating each other or some shit. That grin you've been wearing all damn day could blind a bat."

"I can't help it! I know she'll say yes and that we're pretty much already a couple and everything, but this just kind of seals the deal."

"As I seem to recall, she already said yes along with 'Oh yes, Jared. Right there! Harder!'" Paul mimicked in high falsetto.

"Not again, Paul! You weren't supposed to be out on a patrol in that area anyways. I can't help it that she appreciates my wolfish ways," Jared chuckled lowly. He wasn't embarrassed to have been caught at making love with Kim; Paul knew that.

"And I wish to god Sam hadn't asked me to go check out what inexplicably sounded like dying road kill. But he thought it might have been a confused bloodsucker trying to fuck a deer or something."

"That's not even funny, Paul. Just cause you fuck nothing but hard bitches who only moan on cue and not from pleasure, doesn't mean the rest of us don't get the real thing when we're having sex."

"I can assure you, Jared, that any of the bitches I fuck are not moaning on cue. They moan because they've finally gotten a lay that was worth something." Over Jared's shoulder, Paul could smell the stench before he saw the source, killing his train of thought. Darting in and out of people, amongst the crowds was a small dirty urchin of a girl.

Paul watched her with the eyes of a non-interested predator. It wasn't unusual for people to pass by the likes of him or Jared on purpose. Women especially gravitated towards their kind. This little one however seemed different. She wasn't approaching them to silently swoon at their good looks, or casually bump shoulders in hopes that they would ask her out on a date. This girl had a purpose and it amused Paul's dark side to see what it was.

Jared snapped his fingers, aware that Paul wasn't giving him his fullest attention. "No more comments about my girl, okay?" Jared asked. He knew how Paul was, but it still bothered him to be razzed about his imprint.

Paul's eyes jerked back to his friend. "Whatever. You want me to shut the fuck up then I suggest you keep those types of activities to an inside variety and not out on the Rez where the entire pack can hear and see."

She was fifteen feet away now. Paul could still see her and was eerily intrigued. She moved skittishly and ungraceful, constantly bumping into the throngs of people hurrying to and fro.

"Says the wolf who fucked some bitch on the cliff top while the rest of us had our families down on the beach for a family picnic," Jared snarled, not amused. "I'm not kidding, Paul! It was an accident and one that will probably be repeated-"

Paul had yet to actually see her face, but judging from her clothes and smell, he figured he wasn't missing much. At ten feet she stopped, seeming to bowl over slightly, clutching her mid-section.

_What was she doing?_

"-many more times. Let it go!" Jared's voice cutting back into Paul's musings.

"Alright, Jared. Fine! Fuck, let's go buy your cock-ring ,so we can go back home," Paul snapped, immediately wishing he hadn't said it so loudly. It was supposed to be a dig at Jared, but the few women who stopped to gape at them told Paul they were thinking the worst.

Addressing a middle aged mother whose mouth was opened the widest, Paul snidely spoke to her. "My brother's boyfriend insists he wears such things. I don't agree, but I can't forsake my brother's choices now can I?"

Unable to even speak, the woman just nodded her head in agreement before breaking eye contact and hurrying her pace.

In the time it took for Jared to do some of his own gaping at Paul, the urchin had moved closer. Finally closing his mouth and eyes as well, Jared took a deep breath. He was never, yet simultaneously always, surprised at what came out of Paul's mouth. Jared quickly wished to once again explain that when they entered the jewelry store, Paul need not say anything.

He never felt the movement of his pants as a small girl jacked his wallet, but as soon as she turned to run, Jared's eyes snapped open.

"Jesus fuck, what is that god-awful smell?" Turning around he watched as a small dirty figure raced through the people, realizing too late that he was light one wallet and forgetting all about Paul's early reference to him having a boyfriend.

"Thief!" Jared called out, running at a fast pace to catch up.

Paul laughed quietly to himself before picking up pace behind his friend. They couldn't run overly fast with so many witnesses, but being built as they were, some speed was to be expected.

"Give it back, you bitch!" Jared called again as he advanced towards the retreating figure, Paul right at his heels.

Paul thought it was slightly comical. Werewolves were built for fast reflexes and sudden responses and here a simple waif of a girl had managed to rob Jared of his wallet. When she had turned to judge her pursuers distance though, Paul was singing an entirely different tune. Her whole being reeked of despair, her eyes included, but when she stared directly into Paul's his world had changed.

Seeing beyond the dirt, filth and poverty, Paul felt connected to protect, worship and pleasure her. Before she had turned the corner, Paul had sped past Jared, almost within reach of what was soon to be his.


	2. Chapter 2

Tossing a glance over her shoulder, Bella yelped before attempting to increase her own speed. The guy whose wallet she had taken looked mean, angry and fierce. Her eyes briefly caught his friend's look and her heart almost jumped out of her chest as their eyes locked.

His look wasn't of anger or inconvenience but of humor. In those brief seconds it morphed into shock, elitement and then determination. Bella knew all too well what that last emotion meant coming from a man and she picked up her pace, ducking under a couple holding hands and making a sharp right hand turn.

There wasn't enough time to make a slow approach to her final escape route and Bella hit the road hard, her elbows and knees cracking against the pavement in an unforgiving fashion. Twisting and rolling to her side, she slipped down through the rain sewer, feeling the brush of a hand too late as she fell the eight feet into the catacombs of Seattle's underground.

He heard the crack of cartilage and flesh hitting the pavement, wincing while his wolf whimpered slightly at the pain his imprint must be feeling at such a hard contact. His step had faltered, allowing her the time to roll across the pavement and underneath the sidewalk edge. Thinking of nothing but reaching her, he, too, hit the pavement hard, reaching out to retrieve her. His fingers brushed against something coarse and scratchy, a slight tearing of fabric sounded before the hard thump of her body hitting the surface below.

"Do you have her?" Jared asked, dropping to his knees next to his friend. Unaware of what had happened with Paul, Jared sat back when met with the piercing fiery gaze of his friend.

"No!" Paul growled, scrambling to his knees before jumping up. Darting around, he searched for another entrance to the below as neither he, nor Jared would be able to fit through the space the girl had just vanished into.

"Shit!" Jared screamed. "I knew I shouldn't have taken out all that cash. If I had just left it on a card, I could've cancelled them. I should've just transferred the funds to you, so Kim couldn't see where it was spent. Damn it!" Kicking at the curb, he fumed in fury. Some rat-bitch had just stolen a few grand from him. Money meant to buy his imprint an engagement ring.

"Come on," Paul hissed, grabbing his friend. There wasn't any time to waste, or explain that the situation had just gotten more serious than Jared knew. The underground labyrinth of Seattle extended for miles and Paul didn't want the girl to have any more of head start than she already did.

* * *

><p>Bella heard the two men arguing above her, nearly gasping out loud when the one said he had just lost more than a thousand dollars to her. Briefly she thought of just taking a little bit of the money and throwing the wallet back out through the gutter. She didn't want to be a thief; she just wanted some money to get food. Stepping away from her drop point, she walked down the sewer line towards her home, wondering if the demons would take what money she had stolen.<p>

It was still a good mile or two before she got to the nest, but the longer she walked, the more she thought about the money. It wouldn't be wise to get caught with a wallet, especially the wallet of a man who had seen her and could identify her to the police.

Another fifty paces and she had decided to open the wallet. Inside were crisp one hundred dollar bills. Clutching the money she yanked it out of the leather before tossing the wallet aside. No one would ever find it down here. Taking the wad of bills she shoved them down her shirt until she could find a more appropriate hiding place.

* * *

><p>"Come on, Jared. There has to be an access tunnel around here. Let's go see if we can at least find a manhole cover to pry up." Rolling away from the gutter, Paul stood up quickly and took off down the street, hoping he could find the little urchin and make her acquaintance.<p>

Jogging further up the road, they crossed several blocks trying to find a semi-empty road where they could get underground. Five blocks up and six over, Paul hit pay-dirt when he found a seldom used access point for the water department. Squeezing tightly, the rusted lock gave-way and clanked to the ground. Opening the warped iron door, Paul shoved Jared into the room, sealing them back in.

"Now what the fuck do we do?" Jared asked, looking about the empty room.

"Look!" Pointing to a corner in the room, Paul indicated another locked door, this one hinged and designed into the floor board. When the second lock was removed, the door opened up to reveal a ladder to the walkways underneath the roads. The city used them when evaluating leaks and pipe ruptures.

Both men climbed down into the darkness; their eyes not needing much time to adjust in the shallow light. Once again Paul took off at a light jog while Jared kept pace, glancing around occasionally in dismay.

"Shit, you think she lives down here?" He asked Paul, hurrying to catch up. He may have been angry that he had just been robbed, but Jared had a soft spot. "Maybe I should just report the theft and leave it alone. Obviously she needs the money more than I do."

"And what will your dearest Kim say when you don't give her a big shiny rock at next week's bonfire?"

"She'll be upset of course, but once I explain what happened and then tell her about this grisly place, she'll be compassionate and think I'm a wonderful guy for, Ummph!" Running smack into Paul's back, Jared stopped to rub his chin which had hit Paul's shoulder.

"Jesus, what the fuck are you stopping for?"

"Shhh," Paul hissed, his voice dropping past a whisper. "Do you smell that?"

"Yeah, it smells like someone's shitter backed up and…OH!" Sniffing the air once again and trying to disguise his disgust, he caught the faintest wisps of an achingly grotesque odor. It burned to the point of pain and briefly Jared wondered if he could achieve the same effect by snorting powered sugar. Later, he'd have to ask Quil to try it.

"Come on, Paul, we gotta go. If there are vamps here, we need to leave. This isn't our domain." Looking around the underground cavern, Jared spotted his wallet. With a triumphant *AHA!* he went to retrieve it.

"And leave that defenseless girl down here to become a snack?" Paul asked, oblivious to Jared's find. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"Me? Since when did you become the humanitarian? We can't save 'em all. Besides, look what I got!" Jared answered, waving the billfold in Paul's face.

Paul snatched the wallet away. "And we aren't going to save them all, dip-shit. We're gonna grab the girl, get your cash and get the fuck out of Dodge, okay?" Opening Jared's prize, Paul snickered slightly before handing it back. "Besides, you didn't find shit! Your money is still gone."

"Alright," he sighed dejectedly, conceding Paul was correct and that they still hadn't found his cash. "Why are we just standing here then?" Jared asked, watching as Paul closed his eyes in concentration. A few seconds passed by before he opened them again.

"This way," Paul instructed, taking off at a steady pace.

Jared followed quietly until they came to another intersection of sorts. Paul held out his arm in warning for Jared to slow down. Pointing first to his left, forward and then at Jared, he communicated for Jared to detour and meet him up ahead, effectively trapping the little thief in between them.

Nodding his consent, Jared took off, grinning happily that not only would he get his missing money back, but that he'd also have a tale of compassion to go with it when he finally presented the ring to Kim.

Paul simply walked at a normal pace, wanting Jared to have enough time to get into position and hoping there weren't any other cutoffs between the two points. He had been counting the offsets and if the calculations remained the same, there shouldn't be any assuming there also weren't any other utility access points.

Paul could hear her before he saw her, the steady, erratic beating of her heart and labored breathing making him wonder if she was ill. When the water rushing past his feet began to carry the scent of Jared, Paul knew they were in position.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are," Jared teased from ahead, scaring the daylights out of Bella. Gasping loudly, she knew it was the guy whose wallet she had taken. They must have found the construction site at the edge of town and used the opening to get down here.

Trying not to panic, Bella knew that if she quietly backtracked, she could veer off at the junction into any one of the six tunnel possibilities. Two were dead-ends, the other four offering escapes back to the above. She had better odds hitting the junction, knowing that there was no way the guy would be able to figure out which way she had taken.

With that plan in mind, she stepped quickly across the narrow walkway, hoping her footsteps weren't loud enough to garner their attention. With her head bent, she focused on her footing, turning into a full run when Jared's splashing became closer.

Paul watched her fleeing in terror from Jared's approach. He couldn't see any other escape points for her between the two wolves, but Paul wasn't willing to risk it. Stepping across the water and directly into the girl's path, she crashed directly into him, bouncing back slightly from the impact. A startled cry and then nothing as she passed out, not even aware of arms supporting her.

"Did you have to scare her?" Paul ground out, pissed off at Jared's earlier banter when the other wolf finally caught up to the pair.

"Come on, Paul, I was just having fun. Besides don't you think she would have been equally frightened if we had just popped out of the dark and grabbed her?"

"Shit, I don't know. We got her, though; let's get the hell out of here. The leech scent is about to make me gag." Hoisting her up into his arms, Paul turned around to head back towards the closest exit. Taking a slightly different path, they lucked out as ladder came into view.

"You go first, Jared, and make sure it's a place we can climb out. If it is, get out and I'll hand her up to you."

"Alright, but don't you think we should get my money first? I really don't want to be standing out in public, patting down some unconscious orphan."

"Good point." Using one hand, Paul swept it across her pants in search of Jared's money. Something in her back pocket crumpled and Paul figured it was the cash. Reaching in, he withdrew several balls of paper, none of which were money. Hastily he returned them.

Trying again, Paul carefully felt along her waistband and shirt, wondering where she could have placed it, not immediately noticing Jared who had leaned over to sniff her.

"I don't know, Jared," Paul began to explain as he slowly lifted his head. "Maybe she ditched it or already hid it somewhere down…Hey! What the hell are you doing?" Taking two steps back, Paul glared at his friend whose head had been inches from her chest, sniffing.

"Hey nothing! The bitch shoved my cash down her bra. Lemme get it before we crawl out of this shit hole. Geez, she reeks almost as bad as this place does."

Jared's hand moved quick, ready to swoop in and out to grab the money, halting perfectly still as a growl trickled out of Paul's throat.

"I swear to god, Jared, you fucking grope her boobs and it'll be the last thing you ever fucking do," Paul gritted out through clinched teeth.

"Calm the fuck down, bro. What the fuck is wrong with you? Are the fumes getting to you? Are you o.d'ing on methane? I'm just gonna get my money and let it go. I'll even close my eyes if that'll make you feel better, ok?" Jared asked sarcastically, not understanding why Paul—of all people—would care about an accidental grope-age.

"Sure, go ahead," Paul answered sarcastically watching Jared's hands hover uncertainly. "Then, when we get home, I'll tell little Kimmy all about how you felt up an unconscious chick in search of cash. How does that sound, bro?"

"You are impossible," Jared cried throwing his hands up in the air and taking a step back. "How the fuck are we gonna get it if one of us doesn't reach in to grab it?"

"Hold out your arms," Paul instructed, knowing perfectly well how they could get the cash.

"What?" Jared asked, completely confused about Paul's sudden calming demeanor. It didn't last.

"Hold out your mother fucking arms, asswipe. You're gonna hold her and I'll get your money."

Comforted by the fact that the Paul Jared knew was back, he held out his arms, allowing Paul to place the girl in them. With one hand under her knees and the other just beneath her shoulders, Jared held perfectly still.

Paul took a step back for a minute to collect himself, wondering what type of explanation he could come up with should she awaken while his hands were up her shirt. Christ, when had he become such a pansy about some chick's tits?

'_When you imprinted,'_ a voice echoed in his mind.

The bedraggled lump Jared was holding wasn't just some slutty bar-hopper, willing to fuck anyone who bought her more than two drinks. The girl…woman…urchin was Paul's imprint and he'd be damned if he was going to fuck things up before he even had a chance to introduce himself to her.

With a deep breath, Paul stepped up to her. Refusing to look anywhere but at her closed eyes, he quickly slid his hand up from the hem of her jacket, passing several layers of clothing until his fingers touched skin.

He had already coached himself to just get in and out, no funny business intended. But the funny things with imprints, when the wolf was given the opportunity to touch such an innocent and exposed place as a belly, slowed his reflexes down. His mission to retrieve Jared's money now became one of gently caressing his mate.

Her skin was far from smooth. Paul could feel the oily, gritty surface of dirty skin. His finger hesitated every half an inch or so, trying not to press into what felt like sores and wounds. The idea for Jared to hold her had been a good one. When Paul's fingers finally touched a fresh laceration, the distinct feel of coagulated blood almost made him drop to his knees and howl.

"Paul!" Jared hissed, wondering what the hell was taking so long. His friend looked up at him with an odd expression. "Problems? Just reach up and grab the cash, man."

"With a mental shake, Paul tried to focus back on his task. Down here he couldn't do anything to help her heal. "Shut up!" Paul hissed back, his anger misdirected. "I'm trying to, but her clothes are almost sticking to her skin and I don't want to hurt her. What if she has a wound that stuck to the cloth? I could both rip it open and cause her to wake up then we'd have a screaming female on our hands."

Oh god! Like the wound he had just felt. Very easily she could have more like that, or worse. If a wolf could tremble in fear, Paul felt he'd very well be experiencing a convulsion right about now.

"Good point," Jared agreed wishing his friend would just hurry up. Shifting slightly Jared allowed the girl to lean back further in hopes that Paul could more easily discern if her clothing was sticking because it was dirty, or if it was due to a poorly healing injury. If need be they could drop her off at an ER somewhere.

When Paul's fingers had passed over her belly button, he immediately began to wish he had just gone for a more direct route starting at the collar. Her undershirt was sticking in numerous places and Paul didn't want to even begin to imagine from what, slightly worried that the other scabs he had felt were from numerous ignored injuries. How the hell could someone this small be treated like this?

By the time Paul had reached her breasts, he was nearly undone. He was a newly imprinted wolf, ghosting over a monotony of gashes but he was still a guy. As his fingers trailed over her fleshy globes, he couldn't help but pause and run his finger tips over her nipples.

Jared, more than confused about Paul's behavior, gave him a kick. "Did you find it yet?"

Oh, Paul had found it alright. However, what he had found wasn't cash, but the delicate texture of a pert little nipple. They didn't appear to have any tactile wounds.

"I sure di—No, not yet," Paul redirected, relieved he hadn't just made a first-class ass of himself. Jared would never let him live it down if he realized that after throwing such a fit about feeling up an unconscious girl, he was now doing the exact same thing.

Moving quickly between each sphere, he realized that the money was in the pocket above his fingers.

"Damn it," he growled, pulling his hand back out. Not even sparing Jared another look, he went with the other plan, reaching from her collar to find the hidden pocket and retrieve the money.

"Here," Paul barked, shoving the cash into Jared's front pocket. "Now hand her back over and climb up the damn ladder. It fucking reeks in here." Taking the girl back, Paul waited for Jared to make his ascent and ascertain if they could leave this exit.

The manhole they were trying to leave through had not been used in a long time. Even with a werewolf's strength, it took Jared three twists and shoves to push the cover free. Not wanting to pop out like a demented jack-in-the-box, Jared allowed the cover to lift an inch or so, doing a quick three hundred and sixty degree visual to judge outside traffic. For a full minute he waited, relieved when he saw neither any vehicles, nor pedestrians.

The lid made a small screeching sound as Jared slid it across the asphalt. His arms flexed to hoist himself out, then quickly turned around to lie on his stomach so Paul could hand over the street rat.

Once they were both out of the sewer and back on top, Paul looked around trying to gauge how far away their vehicles were parked. "Alright, I think if you jog back towards the east for a few blocks, you'll find the parking garage. Come back here and we'll drive back to get my jeep."

Jared had yet to even take notice of their location other than to determine it was in the busier part of the city. They had lucked out to be in an unused side street.

"One, there is no way I am letting that creature into my car. For that matter, I don't think I wanna sit in my car wearing these dirty clothes," Jared huffed, indicating the slightly grubby shirt and jeans he now had. "And two, what are you planning on doing? You can't just take her home with you."

"Well, what the hell do you suggest I do, Skippy? Just leave an unconscious chick in a back alley-way to get assaulted?" Paul asked, raising his arms full of the unconscious girl. "And I could give two shits if you want to drive home naked since you're scared of messing up your car interior. Grab my jeep if it makes you feel better and then we can drive back to get your car and you can do whatever you want."

Jared had the audacity to grin evilly, having never seen Paul pay this much attention to anyone, including his numerous fuck buddies. "Yeah, your jeep usually smells like ass anyways. But what are you going to do with her?"

Paul shifted the girl slightly before scowling at Jared, the nosey fucker. "I'll think about it while you dance your fairy ass back to the garage, okay? Just hurry the fuck up before someone wonders why the hell I'm holding her."

"Fine, Mr. Sensitive," Jared mocked. "Can I grab your keys, or is that risking too much touchy feely?"

"Just grab the fucking things and be on your way. I'm gonna step back behind that building in case someone decides to drive by here."

Grinning, Jared made unnecessary sounds while he found Paul's keys, jumping out of the way when the wolf tried to kick him without jostling the female.

"Don't forget to keep your hand on your cash, so we don't have to go sewer diving again, dickwad," Paul called out to his laughing friend. With a middle finger salute, Jared didn't even look back as he looped off towards the parking garage.

Looking down at the bundle in his hands, Paul wondered what he was supposed to do with her. "I don't even know your name, little urchin," he whispered quietly, "but you sure are turning out to be a lot of trouble."

Hugging her a little closer to his chest, Paul sighed and let himself be lulled into the possibility of a new life. He only had to convince a pack of wolves and an unconscious girl that he knew what was best.


	3. Chapter 3

"No!" Jared exclaimed as he listened to Paul's plan. They had driven back to the parking garage to get Jared's car and Paul was sitting behind the wheel, parked next to his pack mate's car while the man stood outside the driver side window of the jeep. The girl was still out, slumped in the back with a seat belt holding her in place.

"No, what?" Came the normal scathing tone. "If you got a better plan, I'd love to hear it," Paul asked rudely, not the least bit interested in hearing about any plan that involved leaving his urchin here in the city.

Jared's anxiety began to rise. It was exactly like Paul to think he could cart home some unconscious chick, but this wasn't any type of situation that could be blamed on drugs or alcohol. "Paul, you can't just take her away."

At the ever present expression of obstinacy from Paul, Jared tried to change his tactic. "What if she has family looking for her?"

The word family allowed for a response. Jared saw Paul as his eye twitched just slightly towards the mirror to peek at the girl.

_I am her family now!_ Paul's mind screamed. This girl was alone and clearly had been so for a long time. He didn't know what it was about her, but something told him she had no one to help or protect her and even if she did, there were fucking vampires down there. Paul knew his best bet was to first help her physically. After she was awake to be given some medicine and bandages, Paul could ask if she had other…family members.

"And look at her; she can't be much older than eighteen, if that," Jared added for good measure, still thinking Paul was about to add to his collection of fuck buddies.

Had he stopped at the family comment, Paul might have relented and taken the girl to a nearby hospital to be treated for her obvious maladies. The fact that Jared had decided to use age as a factor was an instant kill to those plans. If the girl was underage, Paul didn't think he could restrain himself to wait until she was older, not when she obviously had the body of a woman.

The more he thought about her being near him at all times, the more he realized that it wasn't just for sex, although clearly that would be what everyone assumed when they found out she was his imprint. He couldn't deny that having sex with her sounded like a really good idea but definitely not now. For now, he wanted to care for her and make her better.

"I like 'em young," Paul finally concluded with his usual disregard to what was right: morally, legally, or otherwise. Let Jared assume the worst before dropping the bombshell that his urchin was here for keeps.

"That's not even funny, Paul," Jared answered in all seriousness. "Stop thinking with your dick. Let's just wait until she wakes up and then we can ask her where she lives and take her home."

_The absurd idea of her having a real home to return to…_

"Are you fucking blind, deaf and dumb?" Paul questioned his asinine companion. "Obviously she doesn't have any family, or else she wouldn't have tried to rob your sorry ass earlier. She's homeless; ergo she has no home to speak of."

"Ergo?" Jared questioned, wondering where and why Paul's new language had come from. From his menacing glare, Jared decided it wasn't worth an answer. "Give it up; what are you playing at? I have never seen you so much as look at a homeless person and yet I've seen you check the rear view mirror at least ten times since we've been parked here."

"Maybe I've changed; ever think of that?"

Paul's sarcastic retort was not unexpected, but Jared was prepared this time.

"Yeah, I have. At the same time I've thought of the answer to instantaneous world peace; why pigs can't fly; and when the hell would Paul grow a heart. Have you managed to work through every available piece of ass on the west coast already? Has your love of the night life suddenly turned you into a human trafficker?"

Paul gunned the engine in agitation, dropping it into reverse, tired of playing nice. "Maybe I have? Whatever my reasons are, it's of no concern to you."

Jared had jumped forward to press against the vehicle before his jaw could even finish dropping from Paul's rash behavior.

"Are you shitting me, Paul? If you take an unwilling girl back to the Rez, every cop in the state will be on your ass within a matter of hours. You'll be behind bars before you even know what's hit you. I'm not kidding; put the jeep in park and let her go before I call Sam."

Jared waited while Paul bowed his head, obviously thinking about the consequences. When he finally looked at him again, Jared thought his jaw would unhinge.

"No can do," Paul said. "Go ahead and call Sam, though, if it'll make you feel better. I'll see you at home." Releasing the brake and pressing the accelerator, Paul pulled out of the space before shifting into first.

With a screech of tires, Jared barely had enough time to jump back, as Paul took off, but not before banging on the side of the jeep as it passed. "You can't keep her like a fucking pet, Paul; what are you doing?"

"Not like a pet," Paul called out as his vehicle maneuvered down the spiral exit. "I'm keeping her like an imprint." Zooming out of the parking garage and into traffic, Paul took off for his home pissed that he had to tell Jared about the imprint that way.

"Oh shit," Jared mumbled. Jumping into his car, he sought out his cell to call their Alpha. Sam was going to be pissed.

* * *

><p>Paul made it to the ferry in record time, fully expecting Jared to be right on his ass, hanging out the window and screaming at the top of his lungs. Opting to stay inside the vehicle, Paul waited and watched, looking to see if Jared, or even the cops were after him, yet.<p>

His eyes continuously reverted to the mirror, watching his sleeping urchin. She was out cold, allowing Paul the leisure to study her features without having to worry about his pack mate making comments.

Her skin was pale, paler than most white people's skin was and for a brief minute Paul remembered an old horror movie where people that had been living underground and couldn't get out in the sun, were near the exact same shade as his imprint. How long had she been homeless and living in the Underground?

Most of his preferred fuck buddies were nicely tanned. Although in all fairness, his fuck buddies were also conscious and didn't live the life of a street hustler. Close to it for some, but as far as he cared to ask, they weren't traditional street hustlers.

Deciding that wasn't immediately important he moved on to her size. Clearly her clothes were too large and too dirty and ragged; the garments draped and wrinkled around her frame, leading Paul to think that they probably weren't sized for her, but something she had found along the way. When they got to his place, he'd have to call around and see if any of the other imprints would be willing to let her borrow a set of clothes.

Damn it! If the weather was warmer or if he had a blanket in his jeep, Paul would've stripped off those nasty rags she was wearing as clothes and bundle her up. Hell, if she was conscious and Paul had a chance to explain, he'd happily give her the clothes off his back to wear until they got home. It wouldn't have been the first time he had driven home, commando.

Remembering that she was bleeding, Paul leaned over the console to rummage around in the glove box, searching for a first-aid kit, or napkins; something clean he could use as a temporary band-aid. If he hadn't been trying to dodge his well-intending, half-wit friend, Jared, Paul could have taken a few minutes to stop at a drug store and pick up some supplies.

With a calculated glance, Paul wondered if there was some type of first aid station on board the ferry. There had to be considering the amount of people that traveled every day. It wouldn't take him long to find it, grab some stuff and be back before his urchin could even notice. Fingers on the door handle, Paul was ready to do just that when he stopped.

What if the ferry service required the injured party to appear or they asked questions to fill out some type of shitty survey for government funding? No way could Paul risk carrying the girl across a boat loaded with people who might stop to question him. Even if her being awake wasn't a requirement for a band-aid, her appearance would raise too many questions.

His cell phone rang unexpectedly, Paul nearly vaulting over his seat out of surprise. His thoughts about his urchin's health vanished momentarily as he grabbed the device to hit the ignore call button, noting that it said Uley. Two minutes later it went off again, saying the same name and Paul could only smirk.

By the eighth ignored call, Paul had finally set the thing to silence, watching the screen as Uley kept popping up. Several minutes passed in which the phone had stopped receiving any new calls.

Snickering, Paul wondered if Sam had tried to text him. The phone company salesman had nearly shit himself when Paul told him, none too gently, that he refused to purchase a phone that could receive texts. It had taken them awhile, but the company had finally retrieved a very old model that didn't have the capability. Paul was more than happy to take it. The last thing he wanted was for people—primarily his vast collection of bedmates—texting stupid messages full of hearts and crap. He'd seen the other wolves grin stupidly when their mates did that shit. It was enough to make a manly wolf hurl.

A small moan from the back seat set Paul to full alert, his eyes zeroing in on the mirror Jared had accused him of overusing back in the parking garage. His imprint was still out cold, her head bent slightly to the side. Her skin was ashen and waxy, definitely a bad sign, but not what held his attention.

On her forehead was small reddened area forming into a bruise from where she had run into him.

Paul felt the beginnings of guilt that his imprint had hurt herself literally right in front of him, her protector. He should have reached out to stop her from hitting his chest, but honestly it hadn't occurred to Paul that the little urchin wasn't as visually adept in the dark. He had caught her, though, before she hit the ground.

Sighing, Paul began to drum his fingers on the steering wheel. He should just crawl in the back with her and hold her now; a comforting embrace he knew he sure as hell needed and she probably did, too. His eyes flashed back to the mirror before dropping just as quickly. If he looked at her directly, his resolve would crumple. He'd crawl in the back, stripping first himself and then her to change her out of those disgusting coverings. The whole thing would just continue to go downhill from there. It was one thing to feel her injuries but if the wolf actually saw them, Paul would probably shift right then and there in an effort to protect her and instead causing the exact opposite from inside a small area.

When the ferry finally docked, Paul slowed down past a few stores that might have medical supplies. At the very least he could buy a row of paper towels and a bottle of water to clean her. A feeling he wasn't familiar with hovered over his spine. What if she woke up and ran off before Paul got back? What if someone happened to look inside and recognized her or thought she was a prisoner?

Paul knew he wasn't trained to evaluate her injuries. She didn't have a fever and was breathing normally so things really couldn't be that bad; not enough to warrant a sudden stop before reaching La Push. If push came to shove, he could always stop in Port Angeles if need be. The best option right now would be to grab some grub from a fast food joint that had a drive-thru and ask for some water and extra napkins. Along with some sandwiches and soda to feed himself and maybe his urchin, if she woke up.

He bought five different sandwiches at a local place, along with soda, water and various side-dishes. He didn't need to eat right now, but if she woke up, he wanted to let her have a choice. If she slept all the way to La Push, Paul knew he'd probably eat the food the last half-hour home. He spent the remainder of his drive thinking about the precious cargo in the backseat and if he'd get to keep her.

There'd be more than hell to pay if the answer was no.

* * *

><p>Paul almost turned his jeep around when he finally pulled into the driveway. Scattered throughout the entire yard was the whole pack, minus Jared. Embry was pocketing a phone, so Paul could only assume he had been talking to the absent wolf. The entire scene looked like a nasty intervention and Paul wasn't in the mood for deflection.<p>

Barely in park, and Sam had ripped the door open to haul Paul out before he could even say a word. Immediately, Seth slinked to the other side of his jeep taking his sister Leah with him and making Paul's wolf rise.

"Back the fuck off," Paul warned, Sam still dragging him across the yard. Jacob, Quil and Collin following to encircle Paul as he was thrown to the ground.

"I don't care what the fuck you think, Paul, but you cannot abduct some child from the city," Sam spat at the downed figure.

Making careful movements, Paul slowly rose. "I didn't abduct anyone. What the fuck did Jared tell you?"

"That you had a run in with some child who tried to steal Jared's wallet," Sam said, making Paul cringe again at the possibility his imprint was underage. "He said you guys caught her and when she passed out, you decided to bring her home for a project."

Referring to Paul's imprint as a project had Paul's hackles rising. Sam was already trembling, making the rest of his pack follow suit. Paul knew that if he couldn't calm his Alpha, the yard would erupt into snarling beasts. Any other place or time, he would've been happy to oblige.

But not today.

"Did he leave out the part where we had to chase her?" Paul asked carefully, making Sam look twice at his most temperamental pack mate.

Confused, Sam wondered why Paul wasn't in his face. On more than one occasion they had come to blows over trivial disagreements. Scenting the air, Sam knew Paul's wolf was close and tense, but not about to unleash. "No," Sam finally answered, waiting for Paul's reaction. "He said you made quite a sweep through the city-"

"Yeah," Paul said, cutting off the Alpha. "The underground city, a.k.a. the sewer lines. She rolled through a gutter and dropped down away from our grasp. We had to enter through an actual access point and then search her out."

"Well, that explains the smell," Jacob commented, trying not to hold his nose in disgust as the others snorted in both amusement and disgust, Paul's look of mutiny having no effect. "Were you guys actually rolling around in shit down there?"

Casting a look that clearly told Jacob to shut up, Sam returned to his present inquiry. "Even if the girl was clever enough to evade you, that still doesn't mean you have the right to kidnap her."

Snapping away from glaring at Jacob, Paul looked to his Alpha in surprise. "What the hell did Jared say? I think you're missing some important facts, Sam."

"There is nothing else you could tell me that will make me think it's okay for you to kidnap a person, Paul. Do you get that?"

The carefully concealed anger sprang forth from Paul in a rush of words. "She's homeless, you dick!" He screamed, watching Sam's inner wolf rise quickly to the surface. "That pathetic creature in my back seat is about twenty pounds underweight. She smells like she hasn't had a bath in years and while we were searching for her in her so called home, the stench of vampires about damn near choked us."

The pack's silence confirmed that Jared hadn't told them much in the way of what had transpired earlier. They were still tense and trembling, Sam weighing the words for importance.

"He didn't bother to say all of that, did he, Sam?" Paul ridiculed, wanting nothing more than to disappear inside his vacant house with his imprint.

Sam was missing something, the Alpha within could feel there was more to the scenario than anyone had bothered to tell him.

"No," Sam answered after several minutes of brewing silence. "He called, overly frantic saying that you had an unconscious girl you had picked up and were bringing back to the Rez and that he was following behind. Then the phone went dead and I didn't have a clue as to what was going on. A few minutes before you pulled up, he called back on what little reserve his phone battery had, to say he was almost here and to watch out for you."

"Then I guess you missed the most important announcement of all," Paul declared without a care in the world. He waited several passes as the pack became anxious, waiting to hear what the grand announcement would be to clear a pack-mate of a kidnapping charge.

Paul took his time, leaning back on his heels and allowing his body to relax as his Alpha tried to mentally process what could possible come next.

When Sam raised one eyebrow questioningly, Paul finally gave in.

"That girl is my imprint," Paul said, watching as the elder wolves stared at him in dumbfounded shock.

"Homeless and Paul's imprint?" Seth called from across the yard. "That girl has some shitty luck."

Whirling in the direction of the young wolf, a trickle of a warning escaped Paul's tightened lips. He didn't make ideal threats and Seth dropped his gaze, well aware that his status in the pack was lower than Paul's.

Sam reached out to touch the suddenly angry wolf's shoulder, still needing to clarify a few things. "Paul, I can understand your rash actions once you realized she was your imprint, but you still can't kidnap her, even if she is homeless. How do you know she isn't just a normal runaway?" He asked, concern quickly overtaking his anger. If Paul really had imprinted and his mate was underage, the chaos would be brutal.

Releasing a huff of frustration, Paul tried to pull back the new emotions he was feeling. "I don't know anything about her other than she tried to jack Jared's wallet and ran like the devil was on her ass once she had it." Again Paul was reminded that his imprint had nothing, and was probably forced to thievery to survive. His empathy surfaced. "But it's seven o'clock in the goddamn evening. Are you really expecting me to just leave her on a bench somewhere?"

"Of course not, but-" Sam began.

"But nothing!" Paul spat.

Striding back across the yard, Embry and Brady dove out of his way as he went back to the jeep. Yanking the driver's side seat forward, he leaned over and unclipped the girl's seatbelt before pulling her out of the vehicle. Cradled in his arms, he turned around to face Sam who had come up from behind.

"Look at her, Sam, and tell me she's just some sulking teen who thought it would be fun to ditch her parents cause they wouldn't give her a raise in her allowance or extend her curfew."

Sam stared at her, trying not to cringe at the sight she was. Her hair was greasy, matted and tied behind her head. The clothes she had on could have belonged to her at one point despite the bagginess. Now the cargo pants were ripped and safety pinned together along the seams. Sam couldn't see if she had a shirt or sweater on underneath the dirty beige rain slicker that was zipped up nearly to her chin. Her hands, hanging limply, held multiple cuts and scrapes barely identifiable under the dirt.

Swallowing thickly, Sam looked up at Paul's pleading expression. Out of all of the pack members, Paul had never asked for anything; not a day off to spend with a special someone, not a switch in patrols, so he could be home when there was a holiday, or birthday to celebrate. He had always been the lone rogue wolf and until a few minutes ago, Sam had worried he always would be.

Reading the indecisiveness on Sam's face, Paul went in for the kill. "All I'm asking for is some time, a few days to learn who she is. If she wants to leave, I'll let her, but I can't do that until I know who she is and that she doesn't need me."

In a moment of rarity, Paul allowed Sam to see all of his feelings appear in his eyes and had a lesser man seen it, he would've been knocked breathless.

Sam watched as the constant coldness Paul carried in both his gleam and gait melted as the younger wolf held onto his imprint like a life-line to salvation.

"Please, don't make me beg, Sam," Paul pleaded once more before absorbing his sentiment and leaving in its wake the hardened shell of a fierce wolf-warrior.

To Paul, it wouldn't matter either way in the long run. If Sam allowed the girl to stay, his intentions of treating his new found imprint with care would stay validated in the Alpha's mind, regardless of how Paul chose to accomplish the task.

If Sam said no, Paul was more than willing to break command and do whatever the hell he pleased.

Turning back to his pack, Sam made a quick decision. "Jacob, I'll ask that you stay for a few more minutes. The rest of you guys, go back home."

Internally, Paul heaved in relief. True, he still had to wait until she woke up to figure out where to go from here, but seriously? Was she going to turn down free food, room and board and ask to be returned to the Undergound? Not likely if Paul had any say about it. Unlocking the door, he walked inside to lay down his little urchin.

The rest of the pack still hovering outside had looks of disbelief and shock at what their Alpha had just agreed to and seemed unable to budge from their positions.

"Now!" Sam barked out to the unmoving wolves, the onslaught of constantly changing emotions wreaking havoc with his normal levelheadedness.

Lowering his voice, he turned back to watch Paul who was already on his way into the house before adding, "You too, Leah. Go home."

Leah was not as easily pacified as commanded werewolves.

As Sam's imprint, she had come along with him earlier when she realized that something bad had obviously occurred judging from the numerous calls Sam had been making for the past couple of hours. It wasn't normal pack protocol, but then again, Leah was a pushy bitch like that and Sam indulged her more often than not.

"Are you insane? You think I'm just going to leave an innocent, unconscious girl in a room full of strangers? She's gonna flip out when she wakes and doubly so when it becomes apparent she's in a house with nothing but men."

Patience spent, Sam turned his aggression on the closest instigator. "No one is going to hurt her, Leah. Jesus, I doubt Paul will even let most of us get close enough to even talk to her when she does wake up."

Immediately Sam felt like shit for talking that way to his girl. "I'm sorry, honey," he added. "This isn't your concern though. Please go home and I'll be there shortly, okay?"

"You are thinking like a wolf and not like a small-ass female," Leah exclaimed, obviously thinking none of it was okay. "She's going to take one look at you and Paul's scary expressions and lose what sanity she might have. Then she's going to see Jake and drop dead all over again."

There was a small kernel of truth to Leah's words and Sam knew it despite his refusal. "Go home, please," he whispered, "and ask if your mom will come over to take a look at her."

Leah knew she had won and carried on as if Sam had said yes. "I'm only going to stay until you and Jake leave, okay Sam?" She explained. "Have Seth ask Mom. SETH," Leah bellowed, waiting until her brother came back into the yard. "When you get home, ask Mom to come over, k?"

Looking at Sam, Seth waited to make sure this was what he wished. Of course, he didn't really want to say no to his sister. Werewolf or not, she'd beat his ass and make him sorry; she'd done it before.

"Yeah, go ahead," their Alpha agreed, pleasantly pleased when Leah smiled at him. "But don't uhh…" trailing off Sam thought about how to word the situation without making it sound worse than it already was. "Don't mention that it's an imprint or anything, okay? And avoid answering anything like what might have happened."

Confused at the gravity of the situation, Seth was still unsure of the plan. He also didn't know what was going on, other than Paul had an unconscious chick in his room. Imprint or not, this was not the first time Paul kept the company of an unaware woman.

"Soooo, what does that leave me with?" Seth finally asked for clarification. Leah hadn't learned her behavior from an invisible figure; Sue Clearwater could be pretty scary, too! "You want me to just say, 'Hey Mom, Sam wants you to swing by Paul's to shoot the shit. Over what, you ask? Oh, gosh, I don't know'."

"Seth," Sam pleaded, trying not to rip out his hair in frustration. "Just tell her Paul has company and that his lady friend hurt herself and needs to be checked over."

"I don't know Sam, if Seth tells our mom that, she's sure to show up with heavy doses of penicillin and pamphlets listing the pro's of staying abstinent," Leah answered thoughtfully.

Paul had heard the entire exchange and was getting angrier by the second. Despite his wolf wanting to stay firmly planted by his urchin, Paul managed to tear himself away to help along the bickering trio.

"Do none of you have any imagination?" Paul yelled from the still open doorway. He cringed slightly realizing how loud he sounded and lowered his voice slightly from a loud roar to a smaller roar that didn't echo back from inside of the house. "Just tell Sue the pack needs to discuss something with her. She can always send Jake, Sam or Leah back to the house to grab something if she needs it."

Satisfied when he saw Sam wave Seth off, Sam, Jake and Leah followed Paul inside of his house to await the pack's medic.


	4. Chapter 4

"Mom, you home?" Seth questioned loudly as he entered his house, checking the time. It was still early evening and his imprint, Claudia, knew he had furry business to attend to, but he really wanted to go over to her house as soon as possible.

"In the kitchen, Seth," she called out, placing the last of the dinner dishes in the washer. Grabbing a towel to dry off her hands, Sue Clearwater smiled warmly as she turned to greet her youngest. "Hi, honey. Did you get to eat at Claudia's? There are leftovers in the fridge if you want them, but make sure you leave enough for your father's lunch tomorrow."

Already heading in the direction of the fridge, Seth called over his shoulder, "No, I haven't seen Claudia yet. She had class all day and OH! Pot roast!" Grabbing the container he had been inspecting, Seth pulled it out of the fridge one handedly while stretching across the kitchen to find a plate.

"Seth," Sue chastised, stepping forward to grab the precariously balanced plate from his fingers. "The leftovers aren't about to run away. Set the container down and grab what you need before you drop and break one of my dishes."

"Right. Sorry, Mom," Seth answered, still clutching the casserole pan like a winning lottery ticket. He fished in a drawer for a serving fork, heaping more than half of the leftovers onto the plate his mom had retrieved.

Sue and Harry Clearwater held a strong amount of heritage pride for their children. Their youngest, Seth, had been blessed to honor the tribe with his ability to shape shift and protect. Their eldest, Leah, had also been blessed in being the imprint of the pack's Alpha, Sam Uley. Both of their children would continue to carry the line in any future children they produced and it was a matter of great honor.

Sue spoke quickly, knowing that she wouldn't be able to understand her son once he started to eat his first dinner. "I thought you were waiting at Claudia's for her to get home and then the two of you were going out to dinner. Is everything okay?"

Dropping the forkful of food, Seth looked at his mom in alarm.

"Why?" He asked, food forgotten. "Did she call here? I had my cell on me but didn't hear it ring. What happened?"

Trying not to laugh at what she recognized as werewolf imprint worry, she calmly patted Seth's arm. "Nothing is wrong, honey. I was just asking why you weren't at her house. Isn't she usually home by five?"

Relaxing back against the counter, Seth frowned. "Something came up and Sam needed all of us. I haven't had a chance to talk to Claudia but I'm going to go over there in a few minutes."

Laughing, Sue could only shake her head. "Really, dear, you just couldn't resist stopping by for your mom's cooking? I'm honored that you'd place my cooking above seeing your imprint."

Grinning brightly, Seth tried not to blush. If it hadn't been for Sam, he wouldn't have bothered to come home first, not that he was about to tell his mom that.

"Actually, Mom," Seth began hesitantly, remembering he still had a message to deliver. "Sam asked if you could stop by Paul's house. Since I was already headed this way, he asked me to ask you."

"Sure, honey," Sur replied absentmindedly, replacing the foil on Harry's lunch for tomorrow. "I can go over tomorrow since it's only a half day at the clinic. I thought Sam said he had to work this week but maybe my daughter has finally realized she does still need her mother."

Closing the fridge door, Sue winked at Seth, her smile disappearing when she caught her son's look. "What is it? Do I need to go over now? Is someone hurt? What aren't you telling me, Seth?" Sue asked hurriedly.

Paul's house was the only one set further back than the others. Being the lone wolf, Paul's house would be the place they took someone severely hurt to cut back on rumors from outside people if shouting, snarling and general wolf behavior was to be expected.

"I, umm, can't tell you, Mom. But something is up and it requires your help," Seth answered, hoping she wouldn't be mad.

"Please tell me it isn't Leah," Sue asked her son, worry evident in her tone. When Seth shook his head to say it wasn't, Sue gathered her wits.

She could handle just about anything other than one of her children being hurt even if one of them had exceptional healing abilities. Gathering a bag with the usual assortment of first-aid equipment, she realized that if someone had been hurt badly, Seth would not have stopped to eat before asking her to head over to Paul's. After spending several years dealing with "something" Sue knew it was better just to show up and worry about questions later.

"Who is that?" Sue asked fifteen minutes later, pointing towards the only passed out figure on the couch.

Walking into Paul's house, Sue had carefully noted her daughter and son-in-law to-be before sparing a look at Jacob and Paul, both of whom appeared to be okay. That only left the girl on the couch with her eyes closed as the 'something' Seth had spoken of.

"She would be mine," Paul answered, waiting for the shock of the statement to affect Sue.

Any shock Sue might have had over that statement was quickly doused as the nurse in her, assessed the situation, looking for probable cause. "What's her name?" Sue continued, approaching the curled up figure on the couch to look over her. "And what happened to her?"

Loudly sighing at the pack's refusal to answer anything, Paul supplied all that he was willing to.

"She ran into something and passed out before I could ask her name."

His statement still had no affect on Sue. Whatever she may have run into certainly hadn't been the sole incident that caused all of the girl's current injuries and conditions. Reaching down, Sue picked up the girl's wrist, noting the rapid pulse beat and grime coating the girl's hand.

"Paul, she looks worse than having just hit something," Sue commented, looking up at the closest wolf. "Get me a warm, wet washcloth and some soap."

Refusing to budge from his perch near the couch, Paul waved his hand at Jake to go get the necessary cloth. Sam's look of determination was the only thing that kept Jake's mouth shut as he stood to disappear down the hallway, returning quickly with several washcloths, hand and bath towels, a basin of water and a bar of soap.

"Her breathing was fine the whole way home and didn't pick up until a few minutes ago," Paul offered, worrying that Sue would think this was, in fact, one of his usual types of guest.

Last year he had brought home a chick named Candy, knowing she was a drug user. He had no intention of keeping her around for long, but that bitch could bring him to his knees praying when she gave head. He had had to end that tete-a-tete when the bitch had snuffed one gram to many of blow and passed out at the bar they were supposed to meet.

"Drive home from where?" Sue asked, dipping a cloth into the water before lathering it with soap.

Not wanting to answer any more unnecessary questions, Paul kept quiet. Sam, however, felt the question was legitimate and told Sue exactly where Paul had found her. Apparently the answer was unnecessary though as Sue didn't comment.

Quickly, Sue began to wash the girls face. The task was arduous and she had to continually rinse the cloth out, the water turning dark before she was even half-way done. When Sue had finished, she sat back on her heels, staring that the dirty garments. It didn't take a rocket-scientist to know that this girl had been living on the street.

Even though she appeared to be single mindedly on the one task, Sue was mentally speculating on what exactly had happened to this poor girl. Sam, her daughter's lover, looked pained as he kept watching Paul's face and body language.

Paul, a kid Sue had known since he was born, was not a people person. He wasn't a bad kid and when he wanted to he could show fierce loyalty and protection to those he felt were worthy. Obviously, this girl fit that description which lead Sue to the conclusion that this was definitely a wolf thing. Sue was willing to bet the house that this girl was Paul's imprint; the present atmosphere reeked of mate protection.

Sue hadn't raised two of the most hellish children ever to be spawned for nothing. Over the years, she had learned to grasp situations quickly and when it was and wasn't necessary to state the obvious. This girl was young; possibly not even considered an adult in the eyes of the law.

Still not knowing what was wrong with the girl, Sue had to remove some of the clothing to get a better look.

"Sam?" Sue called out to the Alpha. "Can you please come over here and lift her up, so I can take off her jacket?" If there were injuries and Sue's movement caused any sudden sounds of pain from the girl, she didn't want to be the one holding on to a new imprint while the girl's wolf sat within striking range.

Knowing exactly what Sue was thinking, Sam stood silently to move over and assist Sue.

"I'll do it," Paul said, ignoring when his Alpha continued to move nearby, Jacob flanked a few feet behind him.

Sue had already unzipped the ratty looking slicker, waiting to remove one of the girl's arms from its sleeve. Reaching over the side of the couch, Paul lifted her body, using one hand to support her back and the other to assist Sue.

If at all possible, the smell got worse, even the female humans wrinkling their noses. When the jacket was off, Jacob went into the kitchen to get a trash bag. He would've taken it outside directly to the trash, but it wasn't his imprint. He was pretty sure Paul would throw it away anyways and buy her a new jacket. For now all Jacob could do was try to help cut back on the smell.

With the jacket off, it was clear to see that the girl's other belongings were not any better; if at all possible, they were worse. Leah covered her mouth in shock as she viewed the baggy and torn sweatshirt. The color was unidentifiable and large stains decorated most of the garment, causing Leah to tear up and Sam to step to her side, rubbing his hand soothingly over his imprint's shoulder. The Quileute's population wasn't rolling in cash and Leah knew some of the families lived from paycheck to paycheck just making ends meet. But those people still had clean clothes and the barest of necessities to groom their persons; the girl on the couch looked as though she didn't even have a ten cent comb to brush her hair with.

"That'll do, Paul, thank you," Sue told the wolf, motioning for him to lie the girl back down on the couch. "I don't think this is going to work very well, but we certainly don't want her to awaken to strangers giving her a normal bath."

Sue resumed the impromptu bath, pushing up the sweater sleeves to access arms. Ignoring the gasps from the other wolves, she went back to work, trying to clean the skin as best as she could while not removing any of the scabs that had formed. When she had finished Sue looked at the basin of water. She had only washed off the girl's face and arms and the water was almost pitch black. Looking up, Sue realized that Paul was watching both her and the girl.

"Paul," Sue requested quietly, waiting until he was looking directly at her. "I need to be able to view this girl completely, minus the dirt. If we were at the clinic-" Sue stopped when the wolf bristled tensely, obviously not liking what he was hearing. She hated herself for having to make a suggestion that she had hoped to avoid.

Sue waited until she felt Sam come up behind her before continuing. "If we were at the clinic, I could cut her clothes off to wash her, not worrying about a water mess since we have liners and tile floors. I'd like to propose giving her a real bath in your tub. I don't have to cut off her clothing; Leah can help me remove them and then run home to get a change. Is that acceptable to you?"

"No," Paul exclaimed, standing to pick up his urchin. "I'll agree to giving her a bath, but only if you and I are in the bathroom. The last thing she needs is her modesty exposed." Turning to Leah, Paul looked down at his imprint. "I'd really appreciate it, Leah, if you could go home now and let her borrow some clothes. Nothing fancy; just some sweats will do and if you tell me how much, I'll pay you back, okay?"

"Paul, I can't allow that," Sam spoke up, meeting the shocked glare. "Yes, I'm sure Leah will happily give you some clothes, and don't worry about paying for it, but I can't allow you alone in a room with Sue while your imprint is like this. Carry her in there and then leave, so the girls can wash your girl properly. If you promise not to fight with Jake, I'll leave him here and quickly run over to the house to get some of Leah's things to let your girl have."

"I'm not going to hurt anyone," Paul snarled out, angry at being denied the simple task of helping his imprint. "She doesn't know anyone and I don't think it's a good idea to leave her alone with Leah and Sue. They aren't strong or fast enough to catch her should someone slip."

Before Sue or Sam could say anything, Leah's feminine righteousness came out full force. "You ass," she spat at Paul, earning a growl from him and a returned growl at Paul from Sam. "She doesn't know you either; imprint or not. If you're so worried about accidental slipping, place her in the tub and then leave. Mom and I can remove her clothes and then fill it with water. Once we're done bathing her, we can drain the water, dry her off and put her in a large shirt, so you can come back in to pick her up when we put some pants on her."

Sue was proud of her daughter. She hadn't considered the possibility of Paul seeing the girl unclothed, being only focused on cleaning her up. What Leah said would be more time consuming, but in the long run should pacify all parties involved.

Paul felt trapped; he and his imprint against the world, and it made his body tremble. Despite knowing these people for all of his life, the imprint was too new to allow Paul to lose sight of his girl while she was in the hands of someone else. Even if he stood just outside of the bathroom, barely five feet away, Leah would insist on closing the door and Paul's wolf would explode.

Paul didn't notice when Sam gently pulled Sue away or when Jake stepped closer to pull away the girl if Paul happened to explode into furry madness. He did notice when Sue called out to him in a motherly voice.

"Paul, may I check something first?" Sue asked, not daring to venture closer. When the man looked away from his imprint, Sue could see that his eyes were fighting to change, golden patches appearing and disappearing amidst the deep set grey color of Paul's human eyes.

When Paul still didn't answer, Sue tried to explain her plan. "I want to see if she has underclothes on. If she does, you and I can go to the bathroom, leave the door open and you can hold her while I wash her legs down."

Sue watched as Paul cast a look at Sam then dropped his face back to the girl, pulling her up higher on his chest and watching Sam from the corner of his eye.

"Paul, Sam wants to make sure nothing happens to her either. The girl is obviously important to you and Sam knows that; he could never forgive himself if even something as minor as a bump occurred and he wasn't there to help make sure it didn't happen," Sue explained compassionately.

Forty-five minutes ago, she had been worried one of the pack had been hurt. Now, here in the house, she realized that it was more severe than that. An imprint—and there was no doubt the girl could be anything but—was a wolf's only reason for existence when they found their mates. Sue needed to ensure this girl was okay and would remain so.

When Paul tightened his grip on the small bundle again, Sue knew Paul was thinking through the idea.

"No one is going to see anything they shouldn't, Paul. If she isn't wearing anything under the pants, we'll think of something else. I need you to check though because if she is, we need to clean her up some more, okay? Just feel under the band if she has something on; no one, not even you, will be exposing her," Sue cajoled, her relief palatable when she saw Paul's hand snake to the waist of the girl's clothes.

Breathing heavily, Paul almost felt dirty in his actions; the former playboy persona swallowed up whole by the wolf and the need to help his mate. His fingers trailed over a broken belt loop before inching under the fabric, searching for an indication of more clothing.

Gently scraping against something softer than her pants, Paul sagged in obvious relief. He would be able to help his urchin without unduly exposing her flesh to the eyes of the world. Mentally, Paul knew he was being stupid, but his damn wolf thought he was reacting perfectly fine. The approval from within sent Paul moving in the direction of his room where the only working bathroom was located.

Flicking on every light he passed by, Paul could hear Sam tell Jacob and Leah to wait there and not to come into his bedroom unless asked for specifically no matter they heard. Sue had already begun to follow Paul and Sam hurried to catch up, still overly concerned for his imprint's mom's safety. Once he got into the room, he crouched against the wall next to the bathroom door, ready to spring at the first sign of trouble.

Paul's bathroom was considerably large for a house of this size. He had extended the foundation along the western side by ten feet to expand the kitchen, living room, and his bed and bathroom leaving a lot of space yet to be decorated. Thankfully the toilet had been originally placed on the inner wall, allowing Paul to install a separate shower and tub. He sure as hell wasn't about to take any pansy assed bubble baths in what resembled a small swimming pool of a tub, but the chicks had liked it and right now, Paul was extremely happy to have the maneuvering space.

Kneeling on the floor, Sue pulled some towels down with her to use as cushioning for her knees, not stopping to ask why Paul didn't have any type of mats in here. Turning both faucets on in the tub, she let the water run for a few minutes, checking the temperature and waiting for the enormous basin to fill with at least a good four inches of water.

With the water gurgling from the faucet, Paul sat down on the closed toilet seat to remove his urchin's shoes and socks. Like the rest of her things, her shoes should've been thrown away a long time ago. Noting the various holes throughout the canvas material, Paul tried to untie her left shoe laces, the brittle fabric only staying together from the dirt. It tore and crumpled in between the wolf's large fingers, the knot falling useless to the ground. When he pulled gently at the heel to remove the shoe, the rubber sole flapped uselessly away from the canvas, revealing the bottom of his urchin's foot.

Gnashing his teeth together, Paul tried not to cry like a bitch when he moved on to her right shoe. Unbelievably, it was in worse condition than the left one, a piece of twine wrapped around the middle to hold the sole in place. It was a miracle his urchin had been able to run so quickly without killing herself and Paul's wolf started to whine, thinking of what could have happened if she had tripped on the pavement and cracked her head open to get away.

He heard the water being shut off and hurried to remove her socks, cringing at the mismatched pair: one black colored man's dress sock and one yellowed cotton thing, both thread bare and showing parts of her toes. Paul couldn't look at her feet anymore as he moved to unbutton her pants, untying the piece of leather she was using as a belt and releasing the overly large safety pin keeping the pants closed.

Setting the pin on the vanity, Sue came over to help him, softly tugging the pants down to show that his urchin did have underclothes on. Paul had seen just about every fashion of panties a man could think of, but this…these…rags were not acceptable and Paul had to blink quickly at the onslaught of distress his eyes were about to unleash.

Sue took her time, carefully bundling the pants and walking to the door to ask if Sam could have Leah at least wash the clothing. It probably wouldn't survive the washing machine and Leah had already volunteered to give this girl some clothes, but Sue knew Paul was barely hanging on by a thread. The best thing now would be to make sure the girl could get better without having to be hospitalized and leave the pair alone until the wolf calmed down.

Turning back to the tub, Sue saw Paul had already kneeled beside it, dangling the girl's feet over the side and cupping water in his hands to rinse over the skin. Grabbing two washcloths and some soap, she handed one to Paul, using the other to clean her legs to the best of their ability.

Usually most people awoke when the feel of water touched their skin and the fact that the girl didn't so much as twitch caused a bit of alarm in Sue. Considering what Sam had said and the overall condition of this girl, she withheld commenting, wishing to be done and move on to happier topics.

When the impromptu bathing was finished, both Sue and Paul used towels to dry the area, taking a third larger bath sheet to wrap around the girl's waist and keep her warm. Paul held his urchin perfectly still when Sue grabbed her supply bag to come back into the bathroom and listen to her lungs, stomach and back.

She also checked the girl's ears and throat, stilling her movements as Paul started to growl when she squeezed the girl's cheeks to force her mouth open. Sam was in the room before Sue could even pull her hand away, trying to explain she only needed to see if the girl's throat was swollen and/or inflamed.

Paul quieted when Sam entered, one eye watching Sue and the other observing the close vicinity of another male. Damn, what the hell was wrong with him? This wasn't a situation where his imprint was crying out and saying no or anything. Paul, only just having imprinted a few hours ago, didn't know the wolf had forced itself to be in charge. His mate couldn't speak for herself at the moment and the wolf wanted to make damn sure everyone was aware of how close it was and to be wary of attempting to make unusual touching gestures to its mate.

Wordlessly, Sue finished her examination before speaking to the others, putting her supplies away and indicating for Paul to go back into the living room with the girl. She came in just as he was placing the girl back on the couch; putting a throw pillow under her head and then perching himself back on the armrest to watch both her and the other occupants.

"I don't have to ask as to why you aren't planning on taking her to the hospital," Sue spoke up, "but I must advise that it would be in her best interest."

"Is she that ill?" Sam asked, noticing Paul's increased look of unease.

Hospitals meant paperwork. Paperwork that required answers no one had to give.

"Do you see how shiny her skin is? That's a sign of dehydration. Not severe, but enough to be concerned. She's obviously malnourished and," pulling open her lips, Sue studied the girls gums. "I'd bet she's anemic as well."

Paul felt his fingers grab the couch when Sue approached and touched his imprint again. Once his urchin was scented of Paul, the wolf would relax slightly with others playing touchy-feely. He sure as hell hoped it would happen soon before he accidently tore off someone's arm.

Sue continued her prognosis detail without any hesitation or worries; not with Jake and Sam close enough to tackle Paul.

"I'd have to perform a full exam, but from what I can see, there isn't a part of her body that is free from abrasions and contusions. Most of the cuts seem to be healing rather well but," lifting up the sweaters and shirts, Sue pointed out what she had found while palpitating the girl's abdomen; the same one Paul had been fretting over. "This one here on her abdomen could be dangerous and go either way."

The wound Sue was talking about looked really bad to Paul. He knew, could guaran-fucking-tee it was a knife wound of some sort, judging from the way the skin was cut, and he had half a mind to go back to Seattle and kill whatever fucker still had the blade in his possession. Jacob casually flexed his calves, ready to pounce and reminding Paul to stop thinking like that.

"Can't you just give her some drugs and make it better? That's all a doc would do anyways," Paul demanded, ill at ease that he might not be able to care for her himself and knowing that if he couldn't there'd be a pack of wolves chasing his ass tonight when he attempted to extract revenge in Seattle. If his urchin couldn't be here in his home, he'd go insane thinking about the reason why.

"Yes, Paul, I can," Sue answered. "This one, though, looks as though it might require stitches and while I'm perfectly capable of administering them, we don't know how she obtained the cut. If it was from a rusty piece of metal or wood, there could still be shrapnel under the skin."

"I'd smell it, if that was the case," Paul smirked feeling better already about not needing to send his imprint off to some doctor.

Any other time, Sue probably would've whacked Paul on his knee for his sass. A slightly smiling Paul, though, meant a slightly smiling wolf and Sue was eager to keep the peace. "True," she acknowledged Paul's logic, "but what about a bacterial infection? You mentioned a sewer which is probably one of the dirtiest places to be and a regular safe-haven for methicillin resistant staphylococcus and Escherichia…just to name a few."

At the blank looks, Sue tried not to huff her impatience. "MRSA, e. coli, flesh eating bacteria, do any of those sound familiar? You must realize that despite your incredible healing and immune systems, and the lifestyles of your imprints who are lucky enough to have clean water and food, a child such as this is a disaster waiting to happen. Nothing I have would be effective in dealing with such an infection."

"We can smell sickness; she doesn't have anything like that," Paul insisted, wondering why Sue was trying to worry everyone with talk of damn-near untreatable conditions.

"Paul, I'll not argue with you on this. She may be fine today, but at any moment—if she's come in contact with a destructive bacterial or viral infection—she could crash. Her inadequate diet alone could weaken her immune system's ability to fight and there wouldn't be a damn thing anyone could do about it."

Leah, who had been silent for some time, wanted to pace around the room. It just wasn't right, a wolf's imprint having to live as a homeless person. She wanted to find this girl's parents and beat the shit out of them for just abandoning their kid. True, she didn't know what the real story was, but it didn't matter: this girl needed help!

"But as it stands, she's okay, right?" Paul insisted, unnoticing of Leah's agitation. "You don't think she's presently in the middle of an incurable infection?"

"No, she doesn't have a fever; I'd be hard –pressed to say she has rampaging infection, but neither could I say she doesn't. Not without some blood tests."

"No tests!" Paul barked out. At both Sam and Sue's accusing glare, Paul amended. "If she starts sweating, I'll consider taking her for some tests. But since I can't get sick and she's not leaving any time soon, we'll just stay here for now."

Sue's mouth set into a grim line. As a health care provider, she was required to report any type of abuse, especially if it pertained to a minor. As part of her tribe, though, she was honor bound to protect their secrets. Taking Paul's imprint away from him—even if he hadn't said it yet- before she was even awake, would definitely cause a fight and possibly expose them all.

"All right, Paul. As long as you promise to call me should she develop a fever, I'll step aside. Lucky for you, she doesn't appear to have any type of parasitical skin infections." Reaching into her satchel she pulled out some a tube of ointment and several small, foil wrapped items.

"These aren't very strong, but they will help with an infection if she has a normal strand. The ointment, too, has antibiotic properties and should be applied twice a day. Make sure you wash your hands before doing so. Just because you can't get sick doesn't mean that you can't still transmit germs to those who can."

"I promise, Sue," Paul replied holding up his hands solemnly and giddy that his imprint was staying. "I'll make sure to lick them extra clean before I touch her."

"That's not all he's going to lick," Jacob uttered lowly, no one but the wolves hearing him. Paul smirked while Sam frowned, knowing all too well what wolves liked to do with their tongues to their imprints.

In a house alone.

Where plenty of soft surfaces were easily available.

Trying not to look uncomfortable, his eyes slid over to Leah who was also smirking. She may not have heard the comment, but she could practically narrow down the exact second Sam's thoughts drifted that way.

Picking up her bag, Sue spoke to the wolf in a scary mom voice. "Paul, I don't want to hear about you licking anything of this poor girl's even if it's your own hands to just touch her. Make sure you keep me posted on any new developments and let's hope it will work out," Sue said optimistically, grabbing her things to leave.

"Come on, guys," she said turning to address the rest of the room. "It's getting late and I'm sure this girl could do with some more sleep in a quieter environment." Waving her hands in a shooing motion, they all left, Jacob closing the door behind them as Sue walked over to her car and Sam loaded his deeply thinking imprint into theirs.

"Sam," Sue called as he walked around his SUV to jump in the driver's side. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Sam quietly jogged over, smiling softly at Sue. It had been a stressful afternoon and evening but Sam always had time for her. "Everything okay?" he asked coming up alongside her car.

"Sam" Sue whispered, not wanting to a big deal. "I'm not blind. I can see that the girl inside is soon to be a big part of Paul's life if she isn't already. Honey, what are you thinking?"

Startled, Sam's smile dropped, shock covering his handsome face. "Sue, I don't know what you think is going on but it's being taken care of. Paul won't hurt her, not when it's just the two of them-"

"Samuel, I am not talking about him hurting her; at least not physically. However, she looks really young and I don't think it's wise to leave Paul alone to his own devices to make whatever this situation is, work."

"Sue, I can't just take her away from him. You know what she is even if we can't say it aloud right now and it would seriously break Paul to lose her when he's just found her."

Shifting her weight from foot to foot, Sue tried to remain complacent while still maintaining the seriousness of the situation. "Samuel, what if she's underage? It doesn't matter how homeless or unwanted she was, people will find out and it will bring unnecessary attention to the tribe."

Sam sighed heavily, those exact same thoughts racing through his own head. "I know, Sue and to an extent, I agree. But right now, we're going to have to wait and see what happens when the girl wakes up. Unless she tells us she is underage or asks to leave, I cannot do that to Paul."

Sue could see how heavily the burden was to Sam; she didn't need to add anymore. "Alright, Samuel, I can agree to that. Please, though, if it turns out to be true let me know before Paul does something rash. We won't just quietly hand her over to the state without at least making a case for our side to be heard."

"Thanks, Sue," Sam said, happy to know he could count on her. "I'll advise the others and we'll keep you posted, okay?"

Climbing into her car, Sue just laughed. "You better, Samuel Uley and while you're at it, see if you can convince my daughter to stop by more often. You can't always manipulate her time; I miss her, too."

Waiting until Sue backed out of the driveway, Sam waved before heading back over to his own vehicle. He knew Leah would have plenty to say about the situation and honestly he didn't know how he would be able to answer her.


	5. Chapter 5

When everyone had finally left his place, Paul moved from his perch to sit down next to the still sleeping girl. The cessation of the thumping washing machine reminding him that she was still pant-less. Getting back up, he trotted down to the basement to throw them in the dryer. Lifting up the soggy slacks, Paul couldn't help but cringe. They didn't smell as bad as before, but the seams had loosened and they definitely wouldn't survive another cleaning. However, they were his urchin's. He couldn't take them away from her; not without her saying it was okay. Tossing them into the dryer, he turned it on low, hoping he could give her back her pants to wear until something else was found.

Walking back to the living room, Paul stared at his urchin. He had wrapped the bath sheet snug but not tight around her waist, eyeing her bare feet.

They looked cold.

He hadn't thought about having Leah throw her socks into the wash, but they were useless already. Darting back into his bedroom, Paul shifted through one of his drawers, wondering what would work best. He pulled out a few of his work socks, shaking his head before shoving them back in. On his urchin, they'd probably go half way to her knees and feel funny.

Ignoring the drawer for the time being, Paul went to his closet, searching for the box he kept useless shit in. Two Christmases ago, Seth had thought it would be funny to give Paul a pair of woman's red and green striped fuzzy socks to use for something other than keeping feet warm as he mockingly shared later in wolf form.

Paul had laughed right along with Seth, sharing a one-night stand he had participated in earlier in the month. Even in wolf form, the guys and their bodies were not immune to porn fantasies and as Seth panted over what Paul's fuck buddy had been doing, Paul had found a thorn bush and shoved it between Seth's legs, telling the pup to keep his sick sock ideas to himself.

He had kept the socks, thinking he could make better use of them for other more intimate festive activities. He wasn't thinking anything of the sort right now as he searched for the one thing he had that he knew his urchin not only needed, but that would fit her.

They were still in the box with the tags. He grabbed them and rushed back out to check on his urchin. Carefully easing into the far end of the couch, Paul picked up her legs, setting them in his lap to stare at her toes. They were clean, but he could still see sores, calluses, and light bruising. Wrapping his hands around them, her pulse beat steadily through, lowering the anxiety of his wolf.

When her feet were finally warm, Paul yanked the tags off of the socks with his teeth before carefully placing them on her feet. The wolf in him wasn't as impressed, wanting to continue warming her tiny appendages but Paul had another idea.

In the car, he hadn't been able to hold her for fear of not being able to let go. Here, in the surroundings of his home, holding just a part of her, Paul decided he needed to hold her properly; just for a little bit. To make the transition as motionless as possible, he set her feet back down to stand up and move to where her head was lying. Using both hands, for stability, he slid them under her shoulders to lift, sitting down again and then pulling her into a cradling position with her torso pressed against his chest and her legs still touching the couch even though he had placed one hand underneath them.

He mused over the events of the past eight hours. If anyone had said he'd be imprinted by today's date, he would've laughed, called 'em a stupid-shit and then, depending on if they were a girl or a guy, punched them in the face for bringing up a sore subject. Actually, since Leah was the only girl with balls big enough to approach Paul about imprinting directly, he probably would've sucker punched her, too.

He ghosted his fingers over the contours of her face: the fine lines of hair that made up her eyebrows; the nearly translucent skin covering her eyes that were moving beneath; the slim nose where Paul could feel her tiny exhalations; and down to her lips, cracked and chapped.

Damn but he wanted her to wake up! He had so many questions to ask her, Paul thought as he traced her lips. Did she have a favorite food; a favorite color? Did she like to get up early or sleep in? What kind of things did she like to do…

A visible jerk tore through Paul causing his imprint to shift. What kind of moron was he, asking her if she had a favorite anything? She probably didn't care what kind of food she ate as long as it was edible, and sleep? His urchin definitely had shadows under her eyes telling people she was malnourished but she also had the rings of receiving too little rest.

Disgusted with himself, Paul got back up again to pace. He needed to know had happened to her; why she was living on the street. Then he could…do what? Say it was okay and wouldn't happen again? He'd sure as hell wouldn't let her live on the streets again, but he couldn't do anything about what had happened to her. Was it important?

The questions just kept coming. Obviously her past would determine what made her who she was, but it didn't matter to Paul. He really liked her, or at least his wolf did and that worked. His wolf usually hated everyone, his Alpha, too, on many occasions. When he looked at his urchin some weird peace feeling entered his body even with the anxiety of her being hurt. If he could tote her along like a dog with its bone, Paul would be the happiest man alive.

As it was, he was still in shock over this new phenomenon. When he had been sixteen and first learned he was a wolf, the idea of imprinting had seemed like a death sentence. He was a young, handsome and often sought after male. There was no reason whatsoever to be content and settle down with just one female.

Sam had been first to imprint and the transition couldn't have gone smoother than if it had been planned.

In ninth grade, a freshman Leah had practically panted after Sam, who was a sophomore. Like most upper classmen, he ignored all freshmen and Leah never stood a chance. Then summer came and suddenly Leah developed into a sex goddess. Sam spent the next two years trying to make it up to her and their relationship became somewhat of a celebrity thing.

When Sam had phased for the first time, he had hidden for awhile, unsure of what was happening and why. Leah did not take the disappearance kindly and she literally hunted him down; not expecting for him to be a wolf. When the massive creature suddenly materialized in front of her at a lake they often held picnics at, gently butting his head against her torso, Leah froze.

Wolves, bears, wolverines, enraged Elk…any type of wildlife that could be found out here, she had seen, but this was a new creature that startled her. Leah knew not to be fooled by endearing behavior; this creature—whatever it was -was not domesticated.

Slowly and cautiously, she reached inside of her jacket, taking small steps away and relieved that the animal let her. Whether Sam knew what she was reaching for or if he was too caught up in the imprint feeling still remained a mystery.

Not even ten feet away and Leah whipped out a can of pepper spray, emptying the whole can into Sam's startled face. Bellowing in pain, Sam's legs buckled as he tried to get closer to the lake to rinse his wolf face off.

While said wolf face was washing away the debilitating spray, Leah armed her cross bow, shot Sam in the flank and took off running for safer grounds. It was love at first sight as far the rest of pack joked about, saying that by Leah shooting her cupid's arrow into Sam's ass, she had sealed the imprint.

Presently, Leah and Sam were the only two who knew about werewolves and didn't think that particular rub was funny as shit.

Despite later learning how Sam was a wolf, Leah had a mouth on her like nobody's business and she could care less who heard her railing at Sam when he pissed her off. Imprinting didn't change a thing between them and even now gossip spread like wildfire whenever Sam was seen buying flowers.

Hearing the dryer beep, Paul went back downstairs to get his urchin's pants. They had survived the tumbling, much to Paul's relief and disappointment. Taking the stairs two at a time, he hurried to place the warm garments back on her.

Unfolding the bath sheet from her waist, Paul let it slide to either side of his little urchin, once again looking at her underclothing and biting his lip. They weren't female clothing; instead a pair of ratty boxers covered her waist, just as ragged as the rest of her belongings and in such shitty condition they couldn't even be considered sexy to him!

Kneeling by her feet, Paul placed first one leg then the other into the pants, drawing them up her legs until he had to tilt her slightly to cover her ass and those god-awful boxers. As his fingers once again traced over her ravaged flesh and scars, Paul admired the soft feel that wasn't marred. His urchin had probably never shaved in her life and in not doing so, the body hair had remained pale -almost translucent in its whiteness- and very thin, reminding Paul of a peach.

He got up to retrieve her belt and safety pin, noticing her discarded shoes as well. Picking up the items, he returned to his urchin to finish fastening her clothing together before leaning back to study her shoes.

God, they were just as fugly as the rest of the shit his urchin had, but her feet were small; too small to be able to wear any of the other imprints' shoes if they offered. With his keen eyesight, Paul would have no trouble picking her up a new pair to bring home tomorrow, but that meant taking a detour and adding time to his arrival. He'd be better off to fix what she had for now and then take his little urchin into a store with him so she could pick out whatever she wanted.

Paul kept the usual handy-man toolbox in his house and he went to find the box, pulling out a bottle of superglue. A few dabs and the soles were once again firmly attached to the canvas part of the shoes. It wouldn't last long, but then again, Paul only needed them to last long enough to go to the store with her. Trailing back to his sleeping imprint, Paul resumed thinking about the wolves and their imprint incidents.

Jared had been next to imprint shortly after Sam. Good grades, good looks and overall good kid, he hadn't spent much time worrying over what type of girl to date, or even what type of girl he'd consider marrying in the future. When Kim, a fellow high-school senior was accidentally pushed at a rally and had quite literally fallen into his lap, Jared accepted it with the ease of a diplomat. His mind and soul said he loved her and that was it for him.

After that, the wolf spirits had gone quiet and no other wolves had imprinted. For the next few months, Sam tended to believe that they would be the only two; after all, the legends said imprinting wasn't a given. Then, nearly a year later, new high school junior Brady imprinted on a girl who had recently moved to the area.

Jacob, Quil, Embry, Seth and even Collin had found themselves imprinted within days of each other. Only Paul had been left unattached. The guys had teased him, saying he was too much of a dick to fall from some crappy imprint connection and he had agreed. But as the wolves settled with their mates fulfilling their lives, Paul had felt detached. The spirits hadn't given him someone he could come home to and cherish. Had it been for an ulterior motive?

He had snuck over to Quil Sr.'s place, waiting until everyone was asleep, so he could read for himself what information the Council had on their legends. It spoke of the beauty of an imprint; the wolf's mate designed perfectly to center a warrior and give him a reason to come home.

After that night, Paul had changed. Since he obviously wasn't meant to be imprinted, that meant the Spirits must know he wouldn't survive long enough to fulfill that purpose. Any time a vamp was scented near their lands, Paul took off full force, unleashing a rage only those who had no reason to live, could. If his ass was going to die, he was going to take out as many of the fucking bloodsuckers he could; consequences of his survival be damned!

A groan caused Paul to stand up straighter. With a few strides he was back on the couch, waiting for the girl to awaken. She was starting to struggle and twitch, her head shifting positions. He moved a bit closer to her, reaching out to cease the movements, slight as they were.

"Can you hear me?" Paul asked, watching her eyes blink open.

Wide awake at being spoken to, the girl sat up, wincing slightly and clutching her head, her body curling away from him. Paul had to clench his fists so as not to grab her. He really wanted to hold her again, but she was obviously frightened and shit! Who wouldn't be after waking up in a strange location with a massive headache?

"Does your head hurt? I think I have some aspirin somewhere if you want me to go get it," Paul asked, his heart thumping rapidly at his imprint's distress. Of course her fucking head hurt! She had slammed it into his cinderblock wall of a chest. Could he give her aspirin, though? Sue hadn't said anything about it, but he also hadn't directly asked her. She would've said not to if it was important right?

Still huddled into herself and wincing, the girl squinted towards the man before her, not immediately recognizing the figure from earlier in the day. If he knew her head hurt then he must have been the one to hit her. With confusing thoughts, the girl wrongfully assumed that if this person wanted to give her aspirin, then she had yet to perform whatever task he felt he deserved.

Despite the pain, she forced her eyes wide open, trying not gasp as his identity came into focus. Oh, she was in for it now. Street riff-raff did not get caught while attempting to steal and the fact that she had, meant very bad things for her. Scanning the room, she tried to see if there was a quick escape, her lungs beating rapidly in shallow breaths.

Panic was not an emotion that Paul liked, nor one that he ever allowed himself to willingly feel. With his imprint sitting not a foot away and her emotion a direct shot towards him, the werewolf felt scared; another emotion not welcomed.

"My name is Paul," he said slowly, hoping she'd relax if he talked completely forgetting about any type of pain reliever. "You ran into me and passed out after you stole my friend's wallet and we tried to get it back. Can you tell me your name?"

Those same eyes that Paul had fallen into earlier when he imprinted grew wider, if possible. Paul could tell she was scared; her heart rate had picked up and every muscle in her body was tense, either for flight to fight.

Paul had removed his hand from her earlier when she sat up and now he slowly slid it back towards her in a comforting gesture.

"Hey, it's okay. I'm not going-" He stopped his forward movement as she started to rapidly tremble, her eyes locked on his sprawled out fingers.

"-not going to hurt you," he finished softly, pulling back.

While Paul had issues with remaining perfectly silent, he was well versed in remaining perfectly still and did so, waiting until his little urchin stopped trembling and brought her eyes back up to look at him.

He frowned when her eyes met his again, a pleading desperation screaming out to him. The frown deepened further as both the silent pleading and desperation bled away until nothing could be discerned from her eyes. She looked like a damn mannequin to Paul and it unnerved him.

"Can you tell me your name?" He asked, desperate to give his little urchin an identity. He wanted to call her by her name; listen as she shared whatever information she wished with him and then explain: she was free to stay here for as long as she wished—forever even—with no strings attached. However, presently she failed to respond.

"Are you hurt?" Paul tried again, wondering if her stillness was a technique to mask bodily injury. He had seen that before—never in a girl—men at sporting events or at the construction sites who injured themselves and rather than scream, they grit their teeth and shoved the feeling away.

If that was the case with his urchin, Paul was terrified and freely admitted that to his subconscious, his wolf prowling in search of a way to ease the pain. Still, she failed to vocally communicate with him.

"Is there someone I can call for you?"

-nothing

"Would you like to call someone? I can give you the phone if you want." Without breaking eye contact, Paul stood up and walked backwards to the doorway table where he had thrown his keys, phone and wallet previously in the evening.

Paul really didn't want to give her the phone but obviously she wasn't going to say anything to him at the moment. If she had a phone maybe she'd talk to someone she trusted and he could gather some type of information on her. Hell, even if she dialed 911, the dispatch would call Brady's dad who was a Reservation officer. Once dispatch gave him Paul's address, he'd talk to Brady and know exactly what was going on, but still arrive and maybe make the girl feel better at seeing someone in uniform.

Blindly picking up the phone, Paul approached her as non-threateningly as he knew how. His urchin didn't move when he offered the phone to her. Eventually he sat it down next to her, hoping she'd take the initiative and pick it up on her own

She didn't. In fact she never once stopped staring at him with those dead eyes, even when he resumed his seat to continue asking questions.

"I don't know, little urchin, you aren't talking to me and I'm getting kind of angry here," Paul said, not realizing his words could be taken differently than he meant. He wasn't angry at her; he was angry that he couldn't figure out how to communicate with her. "Do you speak something other than English?"

Something did flash in the girl's eyes just then, but Paul missed it as he bowed his head into his hands to think out loud.

"Shit! Was Leah fucking right and the girl's terrified of me? She doesn't answer me and I can't even tell if she knows what I'm saying. Damn, what if she speaks French or Russian or some shit? The only time she responded was when I reached out and-"

Inspiration struck and Paul snapped his head back up to look at her. She had been watching his face the whole time, but maybe she was deaf and needed to read lips. Paul tried again, purposely slowing his speech.

"Can. You. Understand. Me?" Paul spoke slowly and precisely, enunciating every syllable of his speech.

It took a minute, but slowly his urchin's head bobbed once in consent.

"Thank fucking god," Paul mumbled to himself again. "At least I don't have to worry that you hit your head hard enough to forget stuff and shit. I'd never live it down if I caused my imprint to forget who the fuck she was."

He continued to ramble to himself, forgetting that he was supposed to be communicating with his urchin and figure out life altering facts: What could he do to make her stay; her name; and above all else, how old she really was?

"I can at least ask her how old she is and she can hold up the right amount of fingers. I feel like drinking a beer just knowing I don't have to take you to the cops or anything," Paul explained to himself with the little urchin listening avidly.

Looking at her again, Paul realized she was shaking her head anxiously, even though he hadn't been directly facing her while speaking.

"I'm sorry. It might take me a few times to remember I need to look at you when speaking. You're deaf, right?" Paul asked for clarification, his irritation returning when the girl kept shaking her head.

"Can you stop shaking your head for one damn minute!" He yelled, wincing as the girl stopped not only moving, but breathing, her dead eyes locked just over his shoulder at some invisible spot.

Shit, what the fuck was he doing? She was obviously trying to tell him something, he was just too dumb to understand what it was. He needed go back into wolf mode, snuggle with his urchin until she felt safe enough to communicate and then start over.

_Yeah, like morphing into a bear sized hairball wouldn't freak her the fuck out!_

Looking at her again, Paul felt really shitty. She was so damn pathetic and needy and all he was doing was screaming at her because he couldn't remember to speak slower.

"Hey look, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell," Paul finally spoke, hoping she wasn't mad at him. "I'm just frustrated and shit. Don't go all zombie on me again, please."

He might as well have been speaking to the wall, for as much of a reaction his little urchin gave in response. He watched her watching the wall, even turning around a few times himself to see if there was something he had missed like a spider or some shit. Girls hated spiders.

There weren't any spiders, though. There weren't any shadows, or cracks, or anything that could possibly hold her attention for this long.

"Hey, everything all right in there?" Snapping his fingers, Paul waited to see if the girl would ever move or blink. And like before, with each crack of his fingers against the pad of another, she flinched; clearly she wasn't deaf.

Sucking in a sharp breath, Paul tried not to assume the worst as he allowed his hand to drop back uselessly into his lap, her eyes following the movement. He had no idea what kind of life she had been living other than it was pretty shitty and obviously a homeless one. But he wasn't a complete moron. He knew the stories; people, especially women and small young ones like his urchin, being abused by sorry ass excuses of men. He prayed to fucking god that if that was the case, she'd never want to go back to the person and that she didn't tell him who it had been.

"Can you write?" Paul asked. Looking about he continued, "I have some paper or something…"

Trailing off, Paul realized that his little urchin wasn't fully paying attention. Or maybe she was paying too much attention as her eyes stayed locked on his movements. She apparently didn't respond well to certain motions he made, especially with his hands.

Trying not to sigh like a bitch, Paul just sat there waiting for her to respond, the deadness eventually fading, leaving a heavy dose of anxiety and fear. When he felt enough time had passed he tried to talk to her again.

"Can you write?" He repeated, hoping to finally get some answers. His own disappointment was concealed when his little urchin shook her head.

"I don't know how to communicate with you, if you can't speak or write. Do you sign?"

Her brows furrowed in thought, obviously unsure of what signing was, telling Paul that, no, she didn't sign either. She didn't directly answer him, though, leaving Paul to wonder about that as well. Why wasn't she speaking? Would Sue have been able to tell that the girl was mute? Sighing again, Paul just stared at her, trying to think of anything he could do to get answers from her.

Bella, too, stared at the man before her, waiting for him to start yelling, or hitting, or worse. She knew it would probably be worse since the man hadn't turned her over to the police; why else would he have hit her in the head and brought her to his home? Her eyes felt heavy and she closed them briefly before jerking them open again to wait.

The pain was dull but incessant and all Bella wanted to do was find a corner to sleep in, preferably after this Paul man punished her for stealing, or whatever his intentions were. She had to admit she was a bit surprised he hadn't been on her the moment she woke up; most men were like that.

Bella didn't want to relax, but she felt so tired…and somewhat comfortable in her spot. It was cold in the house, although a lot warmer than any other place she had been and her body really liked the heat the walls provided as protection against the outside elements. The softness of the cushions lulled Bella's eyes to drift closed again, this time staying firmly shut in exhaustion.

When his bedside clock chimed, indicating it was eleven in the evening, Paul got up from the couch, well aware that his little urchin had finally drifted to sleep again. Still upright, she had hunched herself into a ball, obviously cold.

Grabbing a fleece blanket from his room, he returned to cover her up, shifting her slowly and carefully so as not to wake her. He left a small unused lamp on, illuminating the area so that she could see if she woke up, but the light wasn't strong enough to disturb her otherwise.

Staring at his mate, Paul internally argued with his wolf who whined like a bitch to just pick up his urchin and take her to bed with him where he could snuggle with her skin to skin. Slapping his face a few times in agitation, Paul wondered where the fuck his wolf got such ideas! Paul did not snuggle anyone, even little urchins who looked tiny, adorable and in need of a good cuddle session.

Several times he tried to walk to his room, making a few feet of progress before abruptly turning back and taking the steps back to the couch. Paul couldn't stop looking at her, readjusting the blanket, listening to her breath even going so far as to lay his hand against her cheek or forehead to make sure she was of a normal temperature. Her skin felt sort of cold to him and that worried Paul. Sue had only talked about a fever; what if his little urchin was really sick with something weird and it caused hypothermia instead of a fever?

Both Paul and the wolf whined over that idea for a few minutes.

When the clock chimed midnight, Paul knew he had to get a fucking grip on his wolf. His urchin was here, in his house, safe and sound. She wasn't going anywhere and even if she tried, Paul would awaken to the effort. He felt really shitty that he'd have to leave her alone for a bit tomorrow when he went to work, but he had a plan for that. Finally the desire to sleep was too much of a temptation and Paul was able to haul his sorry—but happily imprinted—wolf ass to bed.

Stripping naked, he flopped on his bed, not bothering to even cover himself with a sheet. It was early October and even though most people would be shivering, Paul's heat kept him more than warm. Next month, he'd use a light blanket, more for comfort than warmth. As a kid, he had loved when the weather turned cold and he could lounge under the blankets in a warm cocoon.

When he finally drifted off to sleep it was with visions of his little urchin, huddled under a blanket and sharing his cocoon of warmth with a smile on her lips and look of happiness in her eyes.


	6. Chapter 6

Sam's eyes snapped open wide and alert, his hand seeking his imprint as his heart thumped uncomfortably in his chest and his wolf paced anxiously within. With a finesse only a werewolf could pull off, he had rolled towards the heat signature of Leah while preparing to launch from the bed as soon as he knew what was wrong.

"Sam?" Leah called out, her voice not the least bit quiet or fearful. "Are you awake?"

_Motherfuc…_

Slumping back into the mattress, Sam allowed himself to relax. He should have known his girl was fine and brooding at three o'clock in the morning. Hands still seeking the comfort of her, Sam groped for some flesh, finally mumbling out, "Yeah, Lee-Lee, I am. What's wrong?"

Huffing loudly, Leah stroked his head that had suddenly become burrowed just beneath her breast. "I can't sleep and I think we should talk about it."

_Of all the…did she really need to talk now when he had to be up in a few hours for work?_

Keeping his eyes closed but forcing himself awake, Sam tried to accommodate his mate. "Go ahead, sweetie; I'm listening."

_Oh, a nipple! _Fingers having finally found another acceptable goal, Sam inched closer up his imprint's body, allowing his mouth to latch on the perfect piece of tautness.

"Well, it's about Paul and hi…his imprint." Sucking in a delightful sound, Leah tried to concentrate on something other than the pleasure Sam's mouth was creating. "Do you…mmm...do you think she's okay? We never did take anything over for her to…to wh…wear." Almost panting now, Leah arched slightly as Sam's hand began to caress her other neglected breast.

"I'm sure it's fine, Lee," Sam continued to mumble around his mouthful of luscious tit, his body falling out of its natural sleeping rhythm and quickly jumping into a different pattern.

_Oh god, what the hell had she been thinking_.

Closing her eyes in bliss, they just as suddenly reopened as the image of an ill and mistreated woman laying helplessly on Paul's couch filled her head.

"Sam, how can any of that be fine?" Leah asked, fighting against the quickly building ardor only Sam had ever been able to deliver. "Did you see her? That poor thing has no one to help her; hell even if she did she's small. Paul could accidently snap her in half!"

Sam lifted his head by centimeters to answer Leah, making sure his warm breath would blow over her moistened nipple.

"Paul won't hurt her, Leah; you know that. She's his imprint and the wolf would sooner rip off its own tail than allow anyone to harm her including its host," Sam said, dropping back down to engulf her. If he was awake, he might as well make the most of it for both of them.

Shoving his head away from her boob, a loud pop issuing as the suction from Sam's mouth broke its contact, Leah sat up, huffing in anger. "Sam, I'm not talking about the damn wolf thing. I love Paul like a brother, but he is an asshole; plain and simple. I don't think he knows what he's doing."

Groaning and rolling over onto his back, Sam stared blankly at the ceiling. _No nookie tonight, damn it._ "Leah, he's fine. I wouldn't have left him alone with the girl if I thought he couldn't handle it. Jacob had patrol tonight and he would've come bouncing over here if anything had gone wrong."

"Patrol ended two hours ago," Leah exclaimed in a voice that clearly said Sam was incapable of telling time. "In two hours, plenty could have happened and Paul wouldn't know what he was supposed to do if it bit him in the ass."

Leah had been thinking about this ever since they left fucknut Paul's house. Her mom might have trusted him to call in an emergency, but Leah didn't. Paul was the type of person to casually build a fire pit if his house burst into flames rather than bothering to ask anyone for help. That poor girl could be screaming in agony and Paul would probably place a pillow over her head to douse the sound while he Googled 'How to make a person stop screaming'. Pride was definitely his sin to call; Leah could almost guarantee it was tattooed on his ass somewhere.

Sam had no hope of winning this argument. Hell he couldn't even foreplay his way out of it which meant he had to talk his imprint through her concerns; preferably quickly.

"The girl was asleep, Le; I doubt she's woken up and if she has, Paul will know what to do. He promised your mom that he'd call her if anything was medically wrong. What more do you want me to do?" Sam asked, turning his head to stare at his imprint.

_God, she looked beautiful in the dark; a princess warrior if there ever was one. And feisty. Maybe there was still hope for some nookie…_

"Call him," Leah demanded petulantly, aware of Sam's ogling. Casually she brought the tip of her index finger up to her mouth to nibble on promisingly.

Neither the man nor the wolf inside was aware of anything, but her lips and finger.

"What?" Sam finally asked, mentally cataloguing all of the delicious names he'd like to be calling his girl, starting with sugar lips and where he'd like to feel them.

Pulling her hand away sharply from her mouth, it smacked loudly against the mattress between them. "Call him and make sure everything is okay with the girl," she demanded.

"Leeaah," Oh, shit! Was he begging? Sam tried to stop thinking about naughty body parts. "I can't call him in the middle of the night for a friendly chat. Honey, we both have to work tomorrow. Just let it go, let me help you relax and we'll call him first thing in the morning, okay?"

It sure as snot wasn't okay, but Leah was all woman and knew how to extract what she wanted out of her man.

"Sammy" Leah cooed, trailing her hand down his chest to cup his balls, "if you can make the time at three o'clock in the morning to give me sex…" squeezing gently, she moved to pump his hardened shaft, smirking when her bad boy moaned appreciatively, "…then you can certainly make the time to call Paul for two minutes and make sure his ass isn't in over his head. Please?" She whispered, rolling on her side to suggestively rub against his thigh.

"Fuck!" Sam muttered, his leg flexing to accommodate his imprint's movement.

With his left arm holding Leah captive to his side, he stretched his right hand to the nightstand, banging against the lamp and alarm clock as he blindly searched for phone while his imprint continued to tease him.

"Two minutes to talk and no more," Sam grunted, dialing Paul's number while his imprint promised to make it worth his while.

* * *

><p>The small chirp of a phone caused Bella to awaken, her eyes wide and staring at the ceiling above her as she struggled to understand where she was. None of the men she had lured to their dooms had ever been financially stable or even owned a house; at least most of them hadn't.<p>

She didn't hear him, but she saw the man's shadow pass by her as he went to retrieve the phone.

Sleeping in the Underground of Seattle, there were always loud noises, bangs and cracks none of which ever aroused Bella from her sleep. She assumed that since she had fallen asleep in such a quiet environment that the noise, even slight as it was, had seemed out of place and disturbed her.

The man, Paul he had said he was called as Bella began to remember from earlier, answered the phone, talking quietly to someone he sounded irritated with. Bella saw his shadow pass by her again as he returned to a room in the back of the house. She waited a few minutes before getting up off of the couch, silently creeping towards the back of the house to see what this Paul man was talking about. He wasn't a monster and wouldn't be able to hear her if she stood outside of his door to eavesdrop. Bella really hoped it wasn't the cops on the phone.

"…Sam," Bella heard the Paul man's voice say, "I don't care what your imprint thinks, it's three a.m. and I was asleep. What the hell is so important?..."

Bella wasn't sure if she liked the idea of this Paul talking to another man in the middle of the night; that was probably a bad thing if he had friends like that.

"…Yeah, she woke up after you guys split…no...no…..NO, I'm not fucking kidding. She didn't say one damn word to me; I thought she might have been deaf, but she responded when I snapped my fingers…"

Of course Bella hadn't talked to this Paul man! Did he think she'd give away her identity so easily? She had no idea why he thought she was deaf; it was common knowledge that she was not to speak. It had been so long that Bella had talked, she wasn't even sure if she remembered how to talk unless she was being tortured and then answers were a must!

"…I tried that…that too. What do you want me to do? I asked and she either couldn't or wouldn't answer! I'm not about to terrorize her to get an answer that right now doesn't seem very fucking important. She's hurt, has no place to go and I'm going to keep her…"

Keep her? Oh…oh, no. This was not good, not good at all. Only the monsters could keep Bella and they wouldn't give her up just because she had been caught stealing when she was being punished. The fact that she had been caught by her target—a target she had not been told to bring—would only further enrage the monsters. This was really bad.

"…Fuck off, Uley. I didn't mean it like that and you know it. I offered her the phone to call anyone she wanted to and she didn't move…"

The Paul man let out a growl, the sound eerily close to sounding inhuman and much like the monsters Bella was familiar with. She took a small step away from his door, worried that she would be caught and something bad could happen to her. When he spoke again, his voice sounded smoother and more collected.

"…I guess until she somehow communicates it, or I can guess correctly, I'll call her my urchin….you can tell Leah to shove it up her ass…No, that's not a threat against your girl! In fact, do us both a favor and shove it up her ass for her…"

Shrugging to herself, Bella didn't really care what the Paul man called her; at least it wasn't a bad word like a few of the other men had referred to her as. The monsters called her 'pet' but when they said it, Bella felt scared. When this man called her urchin, it almost sounded…pleasant? Names didn't mean much to her at this point.

"…alright…yeah…I got it, Sam! Jesus, drop the shit already. I'm going to be even more pissed than I already am if your Mother Hen-ing causes me to wake up the urchin!...Tomorrow, I got it. I'll call you then."

Bella heard the phone snap shut and she backed away from the partially closed door, unaware that Paul knew she was there and awake. Back on the couch, she huddled again, uncomfortable to be sleeping in an open space even if it was really soft. When she could hear an occasional soft snore from the other room, she moved from the couch, slowly sliding down the side until she was crouching on the floor with the blanket that had been draped over her, balled up under her arm.

Scurrying over to the closest window, Bella looked up, eyeing the frame. She couldn't tell if it had any type of alarm attached to it, but it was far from your average looking flip a lock and push up type. Dropping the blanket, she kneeled up; arms above her head to trail up the window. There wasn't any type of switch to be found and she spent several minutes tugging and pulling at it to no avail. Running her hands over the inside of the frame, she felt funny indentations… maybe some type of key hole?

Trying not to cry, Bella pressed her forehead against the window pane, staring out into the night. She couldn't understand why this man who she had tried to rob had taken her. She hadn't made any of her usual advances to make it known that she was interested in pleasuring him. She knew, of course, that some guys didn't care and tried to take whatever they wanted. Her clothes weren't ripped, nor were any missing, failing to immediately notice that her shoes were gone and that she had new socks on. Plus…the Paul man had covered her up to sleep on his couch. No, Bella thought some more, he didn't look like he was that type of guy, although she knew she could probably tempt him if need be.

Gently she tapped her head against the cold pane of glass in frustration. She just wanted to leave and go back to her cubby hole in the Underground. Aside from the monsters, she was generally left alone and over the years she had collected some nice things.

Her hole was lined with a mattress; a high-end belonging for the squatters. It had taken her almost two weeks to drag it back from the dumpster it had been leaning against. It may have been thread bare, stained and possessed a few holes, allowing some of the foam to stick out, but it beat sleeping on the concrete.

Pillows had been easy enough to configure. With the thousands of recycle barrels located in the city, Bella had managed to gather a large assortment of plastic bags in varying sizes and colors. Choosing the best ones as 'cases', she filled them with other bags until the case formed a pillow like structure.

The thing she was most proud of however was her Swiss Army knife…well had been most proud of it. The day of her meeting with the monsters, she had been trying to open a can she had found in a dumpster behind the supermarket. There wasn't any label on it, not that it mattered to her; food was food.

She should've waited until she was back in her cubby before attempting to eat, but it had been a hard year for the scavengers. Excited to have found anything, Bella had sat behind the dumpster, pulling out her knife to open the can of nourishment. She wasn't very good with the tool, constantly slipping and cutting her hands accidentally. Still she had just managed to open the can when a bigger man had come to inspect the trash and found her with the prized can.

Darn her hunger. If she had just dropped it and ran, not only would the monsters not have been angry at her, but she still would have had her knife and not an ugly gash across her stomach from the scuffle. That large meanie had taken both and then stabbed her when she bit him in anger. He had been really mean, though, yanking her find from her fingers and then kicking her when she tried to grab it back. Out of pain and desperation she had bitten his leg, earning the nasty cut.

Sighing over her bad luck, Bella thought about the one other possession that she held dear. It wasn't useful or even practical for a homeless person to possess, but it had been a gift from a long time ago and the only reminder she had of her family: a small white teddy bear she had named Moonbeam. He was dirty, missing an eye and probably couldn't be considered a real teddy bear since it was in the figure of a polar bear and not one of those fancy ones she sometimes saw in shop windows; however, Bella loved that stuffed animal. He wasn't helpful to her other than being a friendly face she could pretend to talk to, but Bella really hoped Moonbeam would be waiting for her safely when she returned to her cubby.

Having never communicated for very long with any other homeless people—the monsters got easily angered when Bella tried —there was no way she could've know that her well-protected hideaway in the underground was adequately patrolled by the monsters she unwillingly worked for. In fact, they kept several such transients on staff, as it were.

Trying to forget about her past home and whether or not the monsters would destroy her things simply because she hadn't shown up, Bella focused back on her surroundings. There weren't many lights outside. Straining and squinting, Bella could barely see anything out there with the cloudy sky and rain.

Studying the landscape more carefully, she also realized that if there weren't any lights, there also weren't any neighbors. Not always a good thing since it meant no one could hear her yell—not like she would anyways— but if she were to break a window and then climb through, her location wouldn't be given away by an unknown motion light. Plenty of times she had had to ditch certain alleys when attempting to dig through the trash as an unexpected light would beam brightly when she got too close.

Feeling the windows again, Bella realized that she still had no way of knowing if this man had an alarm system of sorts. If that was the case, the high pitched sound would probably have him running from the room faster than the sound of breaking glass and it would most definitely bring the cops.

_Don't talk, avoid policemen at all costs and always stay hidden unless performing a job._

Those were the rules the monsters enforced as a litany each time she was to appear before them.

Frowning, she made her way to the front door. Through the window she had noticed there were a lot of trees; closely growing spruce, fir and pine trees with a lot of thick bushes throughout. Bella figured even if there was an alarm, she could be out the door and into the darkness before the guy could find her. Her clothes weren't brightly colored and she herself was small, making an escape seem easy. That man, Paul, might try to come after her, but it was raining, nighttime and he was kind of big. There was no way he could slide through the forest quietly and that would give Bella the opportunity she needed to get away.

She stopped directly in front of the door, listening to see if that Paul was still sleeping. There weren't any noises and Bella could see that no lights had been turned on other than the little one dimly glowing near the couch. If he had woken up, surely he would've turned on a light to find her quickly already.

No, she knew he was still asleep and now was her chance to leave before he did something to her, like try to force her into one of those shelters or alert the police of her whereabouts. She had never been caught, but heard stories on occasion while walking through the city of people who had supposedly committed the perfect crime and then later got caught.

It was really dark here in the entryway, where the flooring had turned from wood to some type of tile. Tentatively she reached out to search for the main lock and to also check for a chain type. She had seen plenty of those in some of the motel rooms she was forced to visit, but they were the easy kind to undo. As her hand found the doorknob, she slowly ran it upwards, looking for the lock. By the time her hand was stretched far above her head, Bella realized there was no lock.

Huffing over the guy's stupidity and her dumb luck at being brought to a house with no locks, she grabbed the handle, using her thumb to push on the vertical release and pulled gently.

Nothing happened.

Bringing up her other hand, she tried again, pulling with more strength and expecting it to give way. When the door still didn't move, Bella scowled. Had she missed something? Dropping to her knees, she felt along the seal, hoping to find a jam of some sort that was preventing her from opening the stupid door!

The tile was exceptionally cool as she traced her fingers along the seam, hoping to find whatever contraption was keeping her prisoner. However, the polished feel of the door gave no indication that there was an object blocking it.

Back on her feet, Bella tried again, this time pushing instead of pulling, thinking maybe the door was backwards. Her thumb slipped a few times as her anxiety grew, making a small clicking sound. Desperately she wanted to kick at this thing and make it open for her. The minutes ticked by and Bella soon tired, realizing that in the dark, there was no way she could figure out how to leave. Tomorrow when it was daytime, Bella decided she would casually look to see what held it shut. As long as that Paul left her alone, she could wait another day to escape.

Creeping her way back to the couch with her blanket in hand—a new luxury she could add to her collection once she returned home—Bella froze in fear. What if the monsters came to find her? They had done so before, easily, when one of her would-be presents had decided that he would cash in on Bella's favors, but at a later date when his friends could enjoy themselves, too.

It had only happened once and Bella would never forget it. For hours, she had been handcuffed, gagged and blindfolded in a basement, silently crying and trembling violently; to the point she was worried her wrists would snap. Feeling slowly drained away from her numbed and confined hands, her tears soaking the cloth wrapped around her face. When she could hear the noise from the rooms above become crowded with people, she had nearly fainted. She had only had sex a few times and while there wasn't anything grand about it, her abductor had lead a large party of people down to her, where they rudely commented on how many times they could have their way and with more than one person using her.

She hadn't been released from her confines when the groping started, alcohol tainted breath exhaled near her nose with a voice snidely saying how small she was and if that meant fucking her would feel like taking a virgin to them. Bella had almost peed herself when her jeans were tugged off of her in one swoop, missing the noises coming from upstairs.

"Go see who that is?" A rough voice yelled out close to her ear. At that point Bella didn't care who it was and by the time she realized it was somewhat in her favor as to who had arrived, she was almost hysterical.

"Well, well, well," a familiar voice drawled out, the tone making Bella freeze instantly, tremors and all. "You guys wouldn't be happening to start a party with my girl here, now would you?"

"Who the fuck are you and why did Tony let you in? You want some, you better go find your own. This is my tail."

"I'm afraid…Tony was it? Is feeling a little drained at the moment."

The familiar voice, the one Bella had been answering to for a long time, was suddenly closer to her. "This really isn't any way to treat this young girl, gentlemen. She is a young lady, after all."

A cloth dropped over her waist and Bella felt her handcuffs fall away, a pair of ice cold hands rubbing delicately at them. Her gag wasn't removed, but her blindfold was and Bella blinked uncomfortably in the dim light, trying to focus on the monster.

"Sugar," the voice addressed her, trailing a finger down her cheek. "Did your present get anything for himself before his time is to end?"

Mutely, Bella had shaken her head, unsure if that would be a considered a penalty on her part. The monster, however, smiled viciously.

"Excellent! I don't think he deserves such a thing after the way he's treated you."

Bella hadn't even seen the monster move, hi s appearance of suddenly standing, slightly scary.

"Be good, Sugar, and watch how we treat those who would harm you when you are under our protection."

At once the monster was at the base of the stairs she could see, overtaking one of the five men in the room. One by one and in a matter of minutes, all five were killed; the last two screaming right along with a gagged Bella as the second monster joined them in the basement to feast upon the men.

When they were finally done, the bodies slumped haphazardly across the floor, Bella was still screaming into her gag. She had always figured the monsters hurt people, but had never wanted to know at what extent.

"Silence," the newcomer had hissed, causing Bella to choke a few times before she bit her tongue to stop any more noise. "You should be grateful we came to save you instead of letting these pigs fuck you until you bled from every orifice."

"Now, now, dear. No need to get so upset with our pet," the first one had cooed lovingly. "Sugar was just a bit surprised at how rough we handled them, weren't you, Sugar?"

Both creatures had stared her down, and Bella violently nodded her head in agreement. After that incident, Bella had decided to stick closer to her cubby to lure men. She made sure none of her presents had keys on them; or a cell phone to get away/ take her away or call for help/back-up.

The memories wouldn't leave Bella's head as she stared at the ceiling. Those monsters would come for her; she just knew it! And it would be nighttime; when most scary things came out to play. Pulling the blanket over her head, Bella trembled at the thought. She didn't want to be laying here out in the open when the demons showed up.

Her body moved before her mind could catch up. Slinking back off of the couch, Bella crawled along the floor with the blanket still covering her, occasionally lifting an edge to see which way she was headed. When her hands touched the cold surface of tile, she crawled towards a row of cabinets; carefully opening the double doored one under the sink, relieved to see that there wasn't much there. Pushing back a few of the cleaning supplies and box of trash bags, she crawled in, closing the door behind her.

Balled as tightly as she could make herself, Bella pulled the blanket over her, covering her head and using the trash bag box as a pillow. It wasn't the most comfortable, a lot less than the couch, but much safer and not the harshest place she had ever tried to sleep.

Inhaling the faint scent of bleach, Bella really hoped the monsters didn't show up. She was too tired to move and the image of red demon eyes fluttered in her head long after she finally succumbed to exhaustion.


	7. Chapter 7

When the alarm clock started its nasty ass chirping at five thirty, Paul rolled over to smack it senseless, snickering to himself when it made a croaked sound of electronic death before silencing completely.

Stretching wide, he wondered why he felt so fucking happy to be getting up for work, considering Sam had called him hours before the ass crack of dawn to…

"Oh, shit," Paul muttered, jumping out of bed to run to the living room. His morning erection slapped hard against his stomach, reminding Paul he'd better clothe his sorry ass before he made a grand entrance into the room where he assumed his imprint was still sleeping. As a man, he was more than happy to give her a view, but as a newly imprinted, yet to be accepted wolf, he had to hide the bonuses until later.

Turning back, he threw open his armoire, pulling out the first pair of sweatpants he touched. Dancing around like a drunken ballerina, he had to slow his movements. Werewolf or not, he still had to put only one leg in at a time.

The elastic waistband hadn't even finished snapping against his waist before Paul was damn near skipping into his living room, more excited than a child on Christmas morning. He smiled as he looked at the couch, the grin sliding slowly off of his face like an egg down a window.

_He had lost her!_

The wolf within was howling like a bitch as Paul stared dumbly at the empty spot on the couch, wondering how it was even fucking possible for her to have vanished. He couldn't hear shit over his own panicked heartbeat and ragged breath, as the scenarios raced past:

Only someone with a key could enter or leave this place, the double locked front door a preventive measure from any of his past flings thinking they could leave with his shit.

His windows also couldn't be opened without a special key, or unless they were shattered. But no human could shatter the specially made glass, not even with some type of rock or gun.

Considering the type of noise it would take for even a supernatural critter to get into his home, Paul would've been fully awake and ripping off pieces of flesh before the intruder could enter his domain.

_Okay, logic in place, that meant she was still here_, Paul thought, trying to calm both himself and his goddamn wolf. For fucks sake! He was a werewolf! Of course he could find her. Fuck he could still hear and feel her presence close by. She had to be here somewhere; her shoes were still by the side of the couch and the blanket was gone. Allowing his instincts to guide him, Paul walked carefully into the kitchen his eyes zeroing in on the cabinet beneath the sink where a tiny piece of blanket was sticking out.

_Had she….Was she….. _Shaking his head in sadness, the wolf didn't want to think what this might mean.

Planting himself directly in front of the doors- _Jesus Christ it was a small area, too small for any human to be able to comfortably crawl into, _Paul thought sadly—he quietly peeled them open, afraid that he might startle his urchin and nearly fell on his ass once both doors were widely ajar.

Like before, she was in a small and tight ball, the crown of her head sticking out from part of the blanket and looking painfully smooshed against the inside wall. Pulling the blanket down from her head, Paul checked her temperature and breathing, once again thinking she felt kind of cold, but that her color wasn't too far off and she was breathing normally.

It took a werewolf's finesse for Paul to pull his little urchin out of her hidey hole without waking her. Once she was completely out, he held her tightly to his chest, relief coursing through him. She was here; she was safe; and she was still his.

Debating on whether or not he should put her in his bed or back on the couch, Paul continued to cuddle her closely, gently rocking them back and forth in a soothing motion as he walked out of the kitchen. His eyes fell on the medications Sue had left for his little urchin and Paul decided to put her on the couch and apply the ointment. If his urchin woke up, she'd be wedged firmly between him and the couch and not accidentally slide off should she panic. Deep in his mind, Paul knew he wouldn't just watch her fall off of his damn bed either, but the couch seemed more secure to the wolf.

He laid her down, stretching out her legs and checking to see if her feet were cold before he got up to wash his hands; Sue's reminder screaming loudly that he could still unintentionally get his imprint sick. As the hot water sluiced over his hands, Paul frowned, making a mental note that he should probably turn down the thermostat setting to the water heater; the hot water being close to scalding for most normal people.

Clean, dry, and grabbing some cleaning supplies, Paul went back to her side, picking up the funny looking aluminum tube and reading the warnings; most of it scientific gibberish. Tugging the blanket down, he kept watching for signs that she might wake up. When he pulled up her layers of shirts, Paul winced slightly, hoping his urchin would feel comfortable enough to take a shower or bath when she woke up.

The thought soothed him a bit, thinking of his girl in the shower and finally having the luxury to wash herself completely. He didn't know about other homeless people, but he assumed any type of access to a bath or a shower would be well received. His little urchin looked very dainty and feminine; maybe she'd fill up the huge-ass tub and soak for a bit? He had bought some expensive soap shit awhile back at the hinting from one of his fuck buddies; they only used it once before Paul had decided if he was going to fuck anyone in the water, he preferred the shower.

Smearing a long ribbon of ointment on his finger, Paul touched the jagged slash across his urchin's abdomen. He could feel the cut and kept his eyes trained on her face for signs of pain or distress, allowing his finger to blur the medicine over her skin. At least, he tried to remain man enough to stare at her face and turn all wolf to admire her stomach.

After several passes, Paul breathed a sigh of relief, wiping any excess goo on his sweats, his eyes immediately glued to the tender exposure of his little urchin's belly. His fingers immediately went back to caressing the intimate and sensitive area, his wolf damn near drooling in pleasure. This, this right here was real, surreal, fantasy and life all rolled into one. Paul wanted to lean his head over the small area of skin and nuzzle his lips against all of it, her wounds, scars and pearly patches of perfection.

The wolf within knew this was the key to utter happiness. It didn't matter that she was asleep; she was allowing her protector to touch her more intimately than if they had sex and Paul couldn't help but shudder in ecstasy from it.

Pulling her shirts back down and replacing the blanket up to her chin, he tried really fucking hard not to smile like a gloating bitch at his accomplishment. It didn't work. All he had done was medicate his little urchin and yet he had the biggest fucking hard-on ever.

Paul was ready to neuter his wolf.

A clock chimed softly, reminding Paul it was six and he had yet to even take a shower or eat breakfast. Hastily ghosting his hand over his little urchin's face, Paul got up to get ready for work, nearly ripping his hair out in the shower when he realized he was humming. Humming for fuck's sake! What the hell was he becoming?

Silently rushing around his house like a werewolf tornado in an attempt to get ready for work, Paul found himself constantly stopping to check on her, knowing that nothing had changed, but for some reason he had to actually see it to be sure. Twenty-two minutes later, he was finally ready to leave, hastily scribbling a note for his urchin to find on the coffee table next to one the pills Sue had left.

Almost out the damn door, and he turned around abruptly, heading back to his urchin to slide the coffee table a few inches further away from the couch; just in case she got up too suddenly and rolled the wrong way.

Driving twenty miles over the posted speed limit—Paul's usual status quo—he felt really good about himself. It was the weirdest fucking feeling he had ever experienced: satisfaction, happiness and contentment all rolled into one big fucking bubble of euphoria. Shit, it was like receiving a never ending blow job.

At twenty two, Paul felt like he had a pretty good life; even fucking better now that he had a mate. Working construction for a fairly large firm, Paul was basically a grunt. Like he had told Jared, the pay wasn't awesome, but it was decent and once he made foreman—a nice pay raise- he had all intentions of taking college classes to become an architect.

Pages and pages of floor plans lined his home office; projects he hoped to see come true. Most of his designs reflected a symbiotic essence between nature and humanity. He was human enough to admit that he could appreciate the fine details of glass, metal and marble but he was wolf enough to want to infuse wooden materials throughout; the heavy aroma of cedar or the spicy scent of evergreen enveloping him like a second home. He loved to look at the fine grains of lumber, the trees that were forfeited showing the history of their lives in the subtle color variations.

Stone or rock also fit into Paul's ideas. Not those of masonry; the crappy, perfectly shaped bricks. Real rocks, like the basketball sized lava pieces he had used to build his fireplace at the house. That had been another shock the hell out of a merchant type scene.

He had driven halfway across the fucking state to the rock quarry, hand picking the pieces he wanted to use for his house. The twerp working for the day had told Paul that wasn't allowed, purchases were determined by randomness. Paul had asked how random was it to hear of working at a rock quarry and dying from pissing off a customer. Thankfully the quarry had quietly accepted his money and left it be.

He had planned to start school next year. That was after vampire sightings had begun to diminish around La Push and before his imprint showed up. He would still go to school, but only if his little urchin was happy and content. Maybe she wanted to go to school, too?

Paul grinned stupidly as he thought about them taking basic classes together. Easily he could see her doing something artsy; sort of like Jake's girl, Nadine. She was a free lance photographer and Paul could see his little urchin snapping pictures. Hell, she could take the pictures of his finished buildings, highlighting the fine details he would work hard to express. Nadine had done that for Jake, taking shots of a few cars and bikes being refurbished in various stages to use as ads.

Paul's little urchin as a photographer sounded like a damn fine idea.

With ten minutes to spare, he pulled into a gas station to fill up his tank and grab some breakfast for himself. He would probably have to start getting up at five instead of five thirty if he was going to spend so much coddling time with his little urchin; gas station breakfast selections sucked ass.

An O.J., a bag of doughnuts, three breakfast muffins and a sausage hot dog later, Paul was swiping his debit card to pay, watching the early commuters gain in numbers as they whizzed down the streets of Port Angeles.

Today was going to be a busy day.

* * *

><p>When Bella woke up later in the morning, she was surprised to find herself back on the couch wrapped in the same blanket she had been the night before. The Paul man must have moved her; she really hoped he wasn't angry but how was she to explain about demons she was forbidden to speak of?<p>

Pulling the blanket up into a ball, Bella sniffed the freshness of the fabric, trying to comfort herself. The blanket was really soft, nothing like anything she had ever felt, but had often seen in windows and newspaper ads. Something this nice would quickly get dirty in her cubby and Bella sighed, a bit sad at the thought. Unnoticeables like herself probably didn't deserve nice plushy blankets; she'd have to be careful when she managed to return home and not draw attention to having this luxury.

There weren't any noises coming from the house and Bella inched her way off of the couch, wondering where the Paul man was. A lone piece of paper was sitting on the table in front of her and she picked it up, hoping to be able to understand enough of it and anxious for a clue. She failed to notice the funny aluminum square next to the paper.

_Urchin,_

_I had to go to work. You need to stay in bed, relax and get better. I should be home by six and we can talk then. Feel free to wander about the house. I'll explain the lock thing later._

_-P_

Sighing in defeat, she let it fall to the floor. Whatever it said, she wasn't able to read it having never formally gone to school. She could make out certain words if they were printed, but this paper had been written in an odd squiggly type of writing and Bella didn't have a clue.

Was she supposed to wait here on the couch until the Paul man came looking for her? The monsters didn't like it when they had to find her and Bella figured if she was supposed to sit here, he probably would have tied her down or something equally mean.

With her mind firmly set, she meticulously folded her blanket and set it aside, anxious to start her day and see if she could figure out what was expected of her and where the Paul man was. Standing up, it was then Bella saw her brightly covered toes.

Where had these come from?

Sitting back on the edge of the couch, Bella wiggled her toes, confused as to why she was wearing them and who had she stolen them from and when? Grabbing the end seam, she tugged until the sock slid off, presenting five very clean toes.

Just as quickly she did the same to her other foot, admiring the cleanness she couldn't remember ever seeing and wondering how it had happened. Had the Paul man done this? She knew some people had weird fetishes and maybe he was one of those; a guy who liked to look at girl's feet. It could be disturbing, but if all he wanted to do was clean her feet and admire them, Bella could give him that. At least until she could figure out how to get home.

Pulling the brightly colored socks back on her cooling feet, Bella decided it wasn't overly important at the moment.

The living room held little interest to her other than the huge fireplace taking up almost an entire wall. Bella was slightly afraid of fire, but this didn't have one and the rocks were like nothing she had ever seen. Large, irregularly shaped charcoal grey colored pieces seemed to mold perfectly together without any pattern.

Bella glanced over her shoulder to make sure she was still alone before approaching the hearth, mindful not to walk near the opening in case something tried to grab her. Tracing her fingers over the rocks, she could feel the porous surface, tiny indentations in the stones that made the structure seem…alive.

Stumbling back, Bella wondered why she had thought that. This was just like an inside mountain, sort of, and it couldn't breathe. Still, as she left the room, she got the eerie feeling that she was being watched and her step hastened, eager to leave.

Down the hall, carefully searching the first room, Bella realized it was supposed to be a bathroom, but it hadn't been finished. There was only a sink with large ugly holes that would probably be where a toilet and bathtub needed to be placed.

The next room was empty also, but had a thick plush rug standing in a corner and closet doors which Bella opened. There wasn't anything in this room not even boxes and she left quickly, afraid of the area. It wasn't the same unease she had had with the fireplace but why would a person keep an empty room?

The next two rooms looked to be an office and a large bedroom. Both of those rooms felt warmer to Bella, being filled with possessions and furniture, the office had dark walls of some type of wood and the floor was…well to Bella she thought it looked like rocks but smoother. Not like tile but smooth enough not to hurt her feet. Surprised she looked down; where had her shoes gone? She hadn't taken them off, had she?

Oh, she'd never get to leave if they took her shoes, although she could probably find some more socks and just wear a few pairs all at once to help protect her feet. If nothing else, she could grab some trash bags to wrap around and use them like shoes. Plastic didn't help much but anything was better than nothing and if she could find some paper also, she'd have padding.

The large bedroom was very sleek in its appearance; at least in color it was sleek. There were two different clothing chests in the room; one standing taller than Bella and the other a normal size with a TV on it. The only odd thing in the room was the bed. To be sure, the mattress was huge, probably big enough for five or six people to sleep on comfortably. There was a bedside table, but the bed itself had no frame, positioned in the middle of the room and pushed up against a wall.

Inspecting the room more closely, Bella realized that the flooring in here had changed from wood into tile, somewhere between a light black to a dark grey in color. This was definitely tile even though it was matted and not shiny in gloss and a direct contrast to the deep green textured walls.

The longer she stared, the more Bella realized that the room's colors were similar to the woods after sunset. It was fuzzily dark, no indication of a sun's final beams of light but not nighttime where nothing would be discernible.

Her stomach gave a loud rumble and Bella clutched to it tightly. God, how long had it been since she'd eaten? She had been so distracted with her head hurting earlier and the inability to run away that she had forgotten to look for food. With once last glance at the weird bedroom, Bella took off for the other end of the house to where a kitchen must be located.

The room was easy enough to find, the Paul man's house not being overly large. Last night she hadn't been able to see much in the dark, but now during the day, she could see that this room, too, was oddly colored and bright. The weird looking appliances were all metal and the cabinets and floor were as white as snow. She sort of knew what everything was and went towards the largest machine in hopes of filling her sore belly.

Opening the fridge, Bella was disappointed to find that it held very little. Some butter, a half-full jar of ketchup and some type of soda. The cupboards too proved to hold nothing of value, at least nothing Bella could eat. There was a box of noodles and she thought about eating them. She could add some of the butter or even some of the ketchup for flavoring. With resignation, she pulled the box out and decided it was as good as she could get.

Bella knew she had to get the noodles wet and let them soak to become squishy. Randomly opening cabinets she finally found a pot to fill with water, emptying the box of spaghetti and adding a lot of water.

Every few minutes she'd stick her hand in to check if they were ready. Bella didn't know how long it would take, but after her stomach started to really hurt again, and even trying to chew the still crunchy noodles, she gave up. She would just have to go out of this house and search nearby for food.

She couldn't get outside, though.

Every window in the place was locked; Bella could tell that some type of key was needed to open them but she didn't know where it could be and the front door, too, had a keyhole on the inside, as if this was a prison.

Was this house really a prison?

Feeling panicky again, she tried the door, pulling, tugging and kicking, hoping it would miraculously open which it didn't. Far from being a claustrophobic, Bella felt like the wall were closing in on her and she was trapped. She retraced her steps from room to room, trying every window to see if it would unlock including the tiny slivers in the bathroom. They weren't windows, but crystallized rock set in the walls to allow light to filter through and Bella still pummeled against them hoping for a hidden release to exist.

Exhausted, upset, willing to admit defeat and just go eat some of the ketchup in the fridge, Bella slumped into a dining room chair, idly playing with a can of soda she had taken from the fridge. It wasn't food, but it would help some and give her more energy to search for an escape. She finally pulled the ring up, listening to the hiss of carbonation and trying not to shudder as it invoked unpleasant memories.

Bella tried not to gulp all of the sugary sweetness in one swallow, but her belly was yelling and hurting; it didn't allow for her to take too much time analyzing the outcome once the first drop of cola hit her tongue. Faster than she would have wanted, the can was empty, Bella tipping her head back all the way to allow for the last few drips to trickle out.

Renewed, she made another sweep through the house, finding not only her shoes, but her jacket. She was really going to have to start paying better attention if she hoped to live longer than a week. With that thought, she went back to the room with a bed, digging around until she found a sock drawer.

There were a lot of socks in here, enough to last her for years. She had to steal to survive, but it didn't make her feel good. After examining the many pairs, she chose three of the shabbier sets, stuffing them into her pockets and giggling lightly at the funny bulges they made. She'd put them back if she couldn't get out of the house. There was no reason to hold on to them where the Paul man might see.

Looking down at her shirt, she also thought about finding a replacement for it as well. The man was a lot bigger than her and his stuff wouldn't exactly fit her but she could cuff the sleeves of a clean, thick hoodie or sweater.

In the end, Bella decided that was probably a really bad idea. If the cops found her, the Paul man could easily prove she had stolen something as unique as a sweater. Possibly the socks, too, but white socks seemed to be a lot more common than a specific sweater would. Plus, she had already drank one of his sodas and on impulse had taken a second one as well. Along with the blanket she couldn't convince herself to leave, Bella knew she couldn't risk a new top.

She left the room to walk back down the hall, stopping before the last door she had assumed was the hall closet. Bella had peeked inside of the room earlier, but only by an inch or two, enough to register that there were jackets and bags hanging up. Now as she threw open the door completely and turned on a hallway light she could see that there was another door on the back wall.

It was made of the same thick wood the rest of the house doors were, the lever a polished nickel and cool to the touch.

Did she really dare to open this secret door? Why would the Paul man keep a hidden room unless there were scary things down there? Breathlessly, Bella approached the door, leaning her ear against the wood to see if she could hear anything. When that didn't work, she dropped to her knees, placing her head to the small door seam feeling just the smallest of drafts of coldness waft from underneath.

Crawling away, she looked at this possible salvation or slander. What if she could get out this way and was too scared to do so because of what might be down there? Or what if she went ahead and opened the door and somehow the Paul man would find out. If he was really creepy he might have tools he'd use to hurt her with; she'd snuck into a movie theater once and watched just such a thing, nearly crying out when an attendant grabbed her by the shoulder and demanded that she either show him her ticket stub, or leave.

Bella told herself she had nothing to lose and everything to gain by going through that door as she went to retrieve her blanket, then grabbing an old backpack to place it in before opening the secret door.

There was no sound as it swung wide, leaving a dark gaping hole in the back of the closet, the hallway light not offering enough power to penetrate past what Bella could see were stairs. Closing her eyes, she recalled how eerie some of the Underground was and she managed to navigate her way through it relatively injury free. Looking back at the scary stairwell, Bella made her descent.

It was creepy, walking down the stairs into the unknown. Stopping every couple of steps, she let her eyes adjust to the darkness, spotting the faint glow of natural light hitting the last stair from some type of window she couldn't see. Taking the final stair, Bella turned to her left, surprised at what she found.

There were only three windows down here; small rectangular ones that most people probably couldn't fit through. Certainly not her captor. One of the windows was adjacent to the washing machine. If she could climb up on the metal basin and lean over, she could probably slither through the window assuming it wasn't as strongly secured as the ones above. Creeping as stealthily as she knew how, Bella ignored everything but her goal.

Her feet banged against the washer as she hoisted herself to a sitting position before pulling up her legs to stand on top of it, careful to disperse her weight on the far edges so as not to dent the lid. Her shoes didn't really have any type of traction to them and she slipped a few times, hastily clutching the rafters above to prevent falling.

She could have died in relief when she spotted the simple lock on the window by her head, her fingers quickly flipping the hook and the pane falling backward. Bella grabbed the flap before it could hit the ledge and break, shivering as the cold air swept into the room.

The space wasn't very big and at such an odd angle, Bella worried she might not make it. She threw her bag out first, the one now holding a second can of soda, extra socks and blanket before gripping the sides of the window to transfer her weight, her feet smudging the wall as she crawled up and out the window without an inch to spare.

It was really cold out here, maybe even more so than in the city at this time of year and Bella checked to make sure her jacket was fully zipped, her toes flexing in the comfy socks. Looking around one last time to make sure no one was watching, she slung the backpack over her shoulders before running towards the nearest area of forest, quickly disappearing into the greenery.


	8. Chapter 8

Bella walked for a bit after finding the sufficient coverage in the nearby trees. Occasionally she heard a car which meant she was probably towards a city. Seattle didn't have much in the way of trees like this, though, and it felt nice.

Maybe she wouldn't go back and could find a spot here to live. She'd have to wait till nighttime to see if there were any gutters to climb through, although that might make it easier for the demon monsters to find her. Maybe she could just find an abandoned cave, or something. She'd happily stay outside, but it rained a lot and was cold. If an ice storm occurred she had no way to protect herself unless she could find an empty house or an unlocked garage to stay in when the worst of the weather happened.

The greenery began to end and Bella realized she could see an actual yard a few feet ahead. Ducking behind a tree she peered around looking for people. There was a house to the right, but at this angle she couldn't see if there were windows, or if people were in the house.

Moving left down the tree line, she ducked and ran from tree to tree, waiting until the yard ended and the forest bloomed. The yard was big and it took her a few minutes to reach an area where she could see the back of the house.

When the house appeared to be empty Bella sighed in relief, not only from the lack of people, but the sight of two huge trash barrels sitting outside. She still had the soda can in her pocket, but she needed something more substantial to ease the hunger, the brief jolt of sugar only carrying her so far and leaving a nasty headache in its wake.

The sharp crack of a twig had Bella freezing in her tracks.

_Oh god!_

She started to tremble. Had she been found? Standing perfectly still Bella waited for the feel of an icy hand to grip her shoulder or maybe the normal feel of that Paul man. He still intimidated her, but was preferable to the demon.

For fifteen minutes she stayed rooted in position, unsure of what she should do. Her belly was not as patient gurgling loudly in protest, her body lurching forward slightly as she bowed over in pain. Regardless if she had been found, she needed food now. If she was taken, she was sure to die either way and a full or empty stomach wouldn't help. If she hadn't been found, a full belly was a must!

Encouraged by the thought of food in a residential trash barrel, she wanted to crawl across the ground in hope of staying small, but knew if she had to run suddenly she'd lose too much time trying to jump back up.

Running quickly, the grass making small crushing noises as she crossed the yard, Bella almost bowled over the cans, partially in relief and partially in tiredness. Not only was her tummy still hurting, but the knife wound ached and itched uncomfortably. The lid of the trash can hit the side of the house when Bella eventually tore it open, her fingers tearing into the first bag as she searched for anything to nibble on.

Paper towels, empty cardboard food boxes, paper plates that looked like they had had some really good food on them and other miscellaneous debris was in abundance; everything but edible trash.

Trying not to panic that her first bag hadn't held any results, Bella grabbed the next one, the first bag tumbling to the ground by her feet. Again she found hints of food items, empty cartons and plastic sleeves, but no real food, not even a forgotten nibble.

"Hey! What are you doing?" A deep voice boomed, causing Bella to drop the last bag from the bottom of the bin. "Get out of there!"

With a squeak, she backed away quickly, watching a large man approach from the side of the house. He wasn't Paul man large, but he was definitely big. His face looked really mad and Bella panicked, darting across the yard back into the trees, running as quickly as she could while the man pursued her, shouting mean words.

She didn't feel the limbs and branches lashing into her face, nor could she even tell what direction she was running, not that it mattered. She had to get away from this meanie before he tried to hurt her or called the cops and reported her attempted thievery.

As suspected from last night, Bella's smaller size made it easier to navigate through the dense foliage, the meanie cussing when he didn't duck quick enough and hit his head on a limb. The loud snarl and howling from the other direction didn't even frighten her as she dropped to the ground to roll a bit in an unexpected ditch, her fingers pulling her upwards as she cleared the other side of it and continued to limp away.

Eventually and not really that long in time, Bella stopped running, too tired to continue her frantic escape. Her sides ached right along with her belly and Bella knew she had used any reserve strength she may have had. Dropping to her knees where she stood, she finally cried.

She never did understand why people got upset when she went through their trash. It wasn't like the rubbish was something they desired to keep; who cared if she could make use of it? It had to be selfishness on their part and Bella couldn't imagine such an act from people. It was like her cubby in the Underground. If she never got back there, she fully expected someone else to take her things and make use of them. Even if she did get home, as much as she hoped her stuff to be okay, it would be foolish to think it had lain unclaimed.

Hiccupping the last of her tears away, Bella slowly stood back up, her body really sore. She had no idea what she was going to do, where she was, or even how to get back to the Paul man's house. She had to get back, though, and hope that he'd at least feed her a little bit. She didn't require much, just enough to fill her mouth a few times and ease the ugly ache that felt like it was growing within her.

Another twig snapped close by, Bella trying not to freeze in panic. Had the new meanie found her so quickly and without her noticing? Turning around, she searched the trees, not wanting to actually see anyone, but wanting to know why she kept hearing the scary sounds.

When no one appeared and nothing moved, Bella took a few steps forward, hoping to retrace her steps. She didn't move as fast as she wanted to and thought about ditching the pack but the blanket…

She'd definitely need her new treasure if she couldn't make it back to the Paul man's house and had to stay out here for a few days. How far had she traveled anyways?

Another twig snapped close by and she stopped moving. Maybe there were wild animals out here? Bella really hoped that wasn't the case; they'd probably eat her like the monsters said they wanted to. When there was no sign as to what had caused the noise, Bella continued, shifting her path slightly away from the noise, clueless to the knowledge that she was being directed.

When the trees started to thin again, Bella slowed her snail's pace, studying another house close by. Like the earlier house, it, too, looked empty, but she wasn't as easily fooled this time. Shadowing the tree line again, she tried to study this place from various points, lingering when she spotted another set of trash receptacles.

Someone in this area had to have food they threw away, right?

Partially from desperation and partially from pain, Bella sneaked her way to the new set of trash cans, praying that she would find anything to help make it through another day. When she finally opened the bin this time, she almost ignored the plain brown paper bag lying on top of the plastic.

There was something about the crisp folds of the package that made her hesitate. It wasn't odd for people to just throw stuff in a can as they passed by, usually the trash being rumpled or squished to show it was garbage. This bag looked like it had been placed thoughtfully and something urged Bella to make a grab for it, taking a few steps away to peer inside.

The loud gasp echoed harshly around her and Bella slapped her hand across her mouth, afraid another meanie might come barging out of the house to yell and possibly catch her. Clenching a fist around the bag, she scanned the immediate area, relief almost sagging her to the ground when she didn't see anyone.

There was no need to take any more of a risk than she already had. With a nice bonus in her hands, Bella sprinted back to the woods, not stopping until she found a small peaceful area with tree stumps. Inspecting the largest log for the bugs—they could hurt her—Bella gingerly sat down to look once more inside of the bag.

Two really big sandwiches glowed for the taking.

She couldn't help the gleeful noise that escaped her lips when she pulled out one, her mouth watering at the thought of biting into it. Despite willing to eat just about anything, Bella knew she had to be careful. People didn't throw away perfectly good food for no reason and if it was tainted, she could get sicker than she was.

The bread felt soft and fresh, something she had only experienced once or twice at one of the homeless kitchens she had visited before. This wasn't regular sandwich bread though, it looked to be like the kind that special bakery on 12th Street sold.

Bella went through all of the steps, sniffing the meat for sourness; eyeing the bread for green or white fuzzy splotches; even going so far as to poke at the tomato hanging out from the side, the vegetable still firm enough to show an unusual freshness, Bella bit into her treasure and literally moaned.

She had no concept of the honey enriched ham, or the tangy flavored Colby cheese, or even the sun ripened vine tomatoes used to furnish her meal, but it felt like heaven as she chewed hurriedly and swallowed.

The sandwich a third of the way eaten and Bella thought her belly would explode in fullness. She still couldn't believe someone had just ungraciously thrown away such a feast, but she was ecstatic. As the grumbling lessened from her stomach, she decided to inspect the rest of the bag, placing the remaining two thirds of her sandwich back in its protective plastic and shoving it into her coat.

From her first look, Bella knew she had another whole sandwich. If she planned it carefully, she would probably be okay with saving it for at least three more days and from there being able to go another five or six days until she had no choice but find more food. In the bottom of the bag a package of chips and an orange occupied the rest of the space.

Gently she examined the bright orange fruit, feeling for hardness. She didn't know why, but if this type of food was hard, it meant it would be sour and of no use to her future plans. The fruit was, as far as she could tell, in perfect condition and Bella couldn't stop her smile. That meant after the sandwiches were eventually gone, she'd be able to eat the orange and then save the chips for even longer.

Bella knew she was lucky to have found such a catch and was briefly saddened she hadn't taken the time to further search the trash. There could have been more food, or items needed to start her new home; wherever that ended up being. Looking up into the forest from the way she had come, Bella knew she'd never find this house again. She would just have to be grateful for what she had found and hope she'd be just as lucky next time. Now, she needed to try and find the Paul man's house. If it looked like he was home, she'd pull away and find somewhere else, but if he was still gone, she'd crawl back in and pretend she had waited on the couch for him.

Leaving her tree stump, it wasn't long before Bella heard the sounds of twigs snapping and she took great pains to turn away from the noises, unwilling to risk being found, whether by man or animal. Nothing looked familiar to her and after awhile when the trees started to thin again, Bella realized she had actually done it! Standing before her was the Paul's man house; she could still see the open window she had escaped through.

There weren't any cars and the house appeared to be vacant in Bella's eyes. Looking back at the forest behind her, she realized it would be best to hide her cache outside where the Paul man wouldn't find it. If he was going to keep her, he'd know she was planning on escaping if he found the stuff she had taken.

It took a bit of cunning on her part, but Bella finally found a tree she could climb, her hands constantly slipping and earning her a few more scratches as she shimmied her way up high off the ground in an evergreen. Carefully she removed the paper bag from the pack, shoving it in between two branches.

Back on the ground, she examined the rest of the pack, making a last minute decision to leave a pair of socks out here, too. She really wanted to leave the blanket also, but that would be too much of a clue for the Paul man if that was gone. In the event that she had to get away quickly, Bella could only hope she would have time to take it with her.

Climbing back through the window was more difficult than it had been leaving. She threw the pack in first, wincing when the other soda can she still had hit the floor with a loud thunk. She couldn't see where to place her feet as she lowered herself through the small space and ended up dropping into a heap next to the pack, her feet smarting from the impact on the cold cement floor.

The sun had almost set and Bella didn't know how much time she had until the Paul man came back for her. Not wanting to be caught, she emptied the pack to put it back and then arranged herself on the couch to show she hadn't moved and completely forgetting about the mess she had left in the kitchen earlier from the noodles.

Pulling the blanket back around her for warmth on the couch, Bella rubbed her contented belly, frowning when she accidentally hit the gash. It was really starting to hurt; more so than it had been. She pushed those thoughts aside. She had eaten, was slowly getting warmer and was starting to feel drowsy. Leaning back into the couch, Bella smiled at the thought of everything she had accomplished, knowing that unless the Paul man tried to kill her, she'd live for at least a couple of weeks now that she had food.

She was asleep within minutes, unaware of the large creature approaching from outside.

Scenting the area, the large beast circled the tree Bella had climbed earlier. It was confused as to why her scent was particularly strong here and froze when the taint of blood assaulted its nostrils.

Rearing back, the creature braced its forefeet on the evergreen, deliberating sniffing the paper bag that should have been empty, but obviously still held remnants of food. Whining in distress, it dropped to the ground, observing the house just past the light foliage. When the steady thump of a heart could be heard from within, relief was instantaneous and the beast slunk back into the forest.

Its job was done for now.

* * *

><p>Hauling the last structure into place, Paul screwed in the final piece of hardware, relieved that he had been smart enough to work on the units unoccupied by other co-workers, so they wouldn't comment on his speed or strength. He certainly wasn't the only overly large male, but no one else could have transported the multiple layers of quartz counters by themselves. Most single layers required at least three if not four men to make sure they weren't dropped.<p>

When the last line of sealant had been applied, Paul stepped back to admire his work; hiding a scowl when he heard the next team approach the unit. Thank fuck he was done and could leave their immediate presence.

Despite the site almost being finished, it was loud. Had Paul been human he probably wouldn't have heard his cell ring, knowing the others usually left phones to vibrate so as not to miss calls from the boss.

"Yeah," Paul yelled into his phone over the noise of the work trucks in the background, not checking to see who had called.

"Paul," Jake's voice crackled through the static, "Was your girl awake when you left this morning?"

_His urchin?_

Oh, shit this was not the time, nor place for Jake to be asking such a thing. What the hell had happened? Detouring into the break trailer, he slammed the door shut behind him, trying to cut out some of the noise from the diesel engine machinery.

"No. why? Did something happen?" Paul asked a bit forcefully, briefly noting that he was by himself in the small space. Thank fuck he was alone in the trailer; otherwise he would have been snarling even more for some privacy.

"I don't know what to make of it," Jake said, confusion evident in his voice. "Quil called me, saying he thought he saw Arial out by his house. I told him to follow her at a discreet distance; just to make sure, but not to approach her."

Pulling the phone away from his ear to check the ID and ascertain it was Jacob Black on the phone, he pushed it back to his head, demanding, "Who the fuck is Arial?"

"Oh, well," Jacob stuttered uncertainly, "I guess Leah wasn't fond of what you were calling your imprint and since you said you were going to refer to her as an urchin, Leah said we should come up with a nicer sounding name until the girl told us what hers was. She…uhh…thought Arial sounded nice."

"You can tell Leah to," Paul growled into the phone before cutting himself off. "You know what? Fuck it; I don't care what the hell you bozos are calling my imprint. Tell me about Quil. Did he lose his shit and Phase in front of her, or show off his furry ass and cause her to panic; is my girl hurt?"

The second Paul uttered the word 'hurt' a cold sweat broke out over his skin. Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! How the hell did she get outside and for that matter, what the fuck was Quil doing that goddamn close to her? She may be small and dainty, but even dumbass Quil could've heard her approaching. Shit, unless she was stark raving naked, twat Ateara would've have smelled her from a mile away.

"No, he's still trailing her," Jake said, allowing some of the tension to leave Paul's trembling form. "It's just that when she was at his house, he saw her going through the garbage, looking for…well…we think food," Jacob mumbled the last part painfully, causing Paul's chest to constrict harshly.

"Why the fuck would she go dumpster diving when she could've…"trailing mid-thought, Paul wanted to slap himself. Of course she was hungry, he hadn't gone grocery shopping in forever and there wasn't so much as a crumb to be found in his cabinets. Yesterday he had meant to stop by the store after helping douche nozzle Jared buy his cock ring for his girl, but those plans had been drastically altered.

Sinking into a folding chair, Paul felt his chest tighten. He hadn't meant to leave her without food and had assumed she'd be okay in the house for a few hours until he could get back. On the drive home yesterday, his little urchin hadn't woken up to eat the fast food he had picked up on the other side of the bay. Paul thought he had done the responsible thing by leaving her safe and secure and instead he had fucking starved her!

"Look, I don't want to scare her or anything, but Quil's leading her towards my house. I'm gonna make some sandwiches and place them in a bag. I'll just leave it on top of the bins so she can find them. Hopefully she'll head back to your place."

Paul nearly dropped his phone again when Jake made that suggestion. He couldn't believe his pack could be so goddamn uppity and insensitive, unwilling to take his urchin inside of their oh-so fucking esteemed houses and treat her like a person.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Just take her inside a house, I don't care whose and feed her like a human being. And so fucking help me, Jake you make one goddamn comment about her being dirty or smelly and I'll fucking tear your tongue out and rip off your nose!"

"Claire tried that," Jacob tried to explain. "Or at least her brother did. He was visiting and couldn't understand why his sister suddenly wanted to feed some homeless person digging in her trash-"

"-She's not homeless, you dick. Her home is with me!"

"I know, bro, okay? But that's how it looked to him and you know Claire couldn't say anything about imprinting. Her brother was just trying to protect his sister, although he did turn rather pale when Quil howled to get him to stop chasing Arial."

"Could anything else possibly go wrong today?" Paul muttered to his empty surroundings, Jacob suddenly silent on the other end.

There was no fucking way possible for his urchin to have gotten outside on her own unless she had help. Every window was secured unless she had managed to slip down into the cellar and even then, there was no way physically possible for her to have slipped between the windows even if she had managed to reach one.

Paul literally thought his chest was going to implode from pain. Just crumple right up like a fucking sardine tin and leave blood and guts and shit all over the break trailer as his wolf ate the remains, snarling and attacking the human side of him. Not only had she been hungry but something must have gotten to her. No damn way could she have slipped out of Paul Lahote's house!

"Paul?" Jacob asked hesitantly when he could no longer hear profane muttering through the phone. "Are you still there?"

"Yeah, my sorry ass is still here," Paul answered, wondering if he could just buy a fucking florist shop to apologize to his urchin. "You said Quil was on patrol? Did he do a run by of my house?"

"I would assume so. We discussed the possibility of Arial not knowing how to get back to your place and Quil was going to try and direct her movements in that direction. I'm making her some grub now and then I'll hide out until she takes off again."

"Okay, thanks," Paul sighed. At least if anything worse was to occur, Quil could howl for help and the guys could find the position quickly. He really fucking hoped this was as bad as it was going to get. "I'll dip out of here as soon as I can and head back that way. Can you do me a favor?"

Jacob had never heard Paul sound so soft and almost failed to ask, "What's that?"

"Could you call Leah and ask her to pick up some stuff. I don't know; whatever girly shit chicks like to eat. Tell her just to buy a large variety, especially fresh fruits and veggies. I'll give Sam a check later to cover the costs."

Jacob laughed heartedly. That was the Paul he knew.

"I wouldn't torture you with Leah reaming your ass for leaving a poor, defenseless girl hungry and alone," Jacob said, causing Paul to cringe again. He had left her hungry in his house; the place he had promised himself would be her safe-haven; he was such a douche. "I'll ask Quil to continue to watch her and once she's left my house, I'll go pick up some stuff for you and her."

"Thanks," Paul answered gruffly. "Oh and Jake? Stop fucking calling her Arial!" Shutting off his phone, Paul went to find his foreman, Dan.

* * *

><p>"Does this look like a goddamn boomerang?" Dan Caddell yelled from the rooftop, slinging a measuring square down towards the direction of the unfortunate recipient of his rant. Lucky for both, said tool didn't possess the ability to return to its thrower or hit its target. "I spend two thousand dollars a month in upgrading tools and shit and the least you could do was use one of the fucking things to do your job! Now get your ass back up here and do it again! Right, this time!"<p>

Paul watched as the man on the ground scowled before muttering an 'okay', picking up the tool and waiting for Dan to come down the ladder before he could resume his spot on the roof. Loud clamoring and banging of hammers, staple guns and saws could be heard as Paul made his approach to the foreman, catching him before the guy could go and disrupt some other project.

"Jesus H. Christ," Dam muttered, stomping off of the extended ladder, dropping the past the last two rings. "Built like a brick shit house and about as fucking smart as one, too."

"Hey, Dan," Paul called out loudly, knowing his voice could be heard even over the racket.

The foreman turned around; surprised to hear his worker, Paul, call him. Dan split his workers up in teams, rotating them when whatever project they had been assigned was finished. It looked bad on him if one section of the carpentry fell short of the others because he hadn't mixed and matched the able workers with the morons who still had a job because of their contract.

Paul Lahote, however, was more than able to finish any task given. The man barely spoke; only doing so when some other hatch-job was about to mess up whatever project he had been assigned and already finished.

"What's up, Lahote?" The six foot two foreman asked conversationally, sincerely hoping he didn't have to go play referee again. "Don't tell me they're trying to seal the plumbing again before all of the cabinetry is secured."

"Well, they are actually sealing the plumbing," Paul grinned wickedly, observing Dan's face start to melt in renewed anger, "but all the cabinetry is secured, so we're good on that account."

An ostrich could have nested inside of the foreman's wide opened mouth, Paul noted with a smirk.

"Shit! Really?" His boss was able to utter. "Oh damn, that's great news! I figured it'd take you 'til at least Friday to finish that. Fifty units is a lot to do. Are you sure it's good?"

The look Paul gave Dan caused the foreman to chuckle. "Forgive me. I forgot who I was asking. Are you looking for your next project? Maybe you could go up there and help Todd," cupping his hands around his mouth to yell louder, Dan aimed the rest of his statement skywards, "figure out how to use a fucking square." Dropping his hands, he shared an amused smile with Paul.

"I'd be happy to, but we both know it'd go a lot quicker if you sent Todd on a snack run. I can probably finish this unit and four more before the day is over."

Swinging his arm around the taller male, Dan led him around the building to another complex, chortling, "Damn, Lahote! If I had five more of you, we'd both be rich by the speed and man-power cuts we could save."

_If you had eight more of me, you'd have a pack of fucking shape shifters_, Paul thought sardonically.

Still smiling, Paul carried on with his charade. He could give two-shits what Dan, or any of them thought of him, but he needed to make a request and he could play the suck-up if need be. Dan really wasn't a bad guy; Paul just didn't need any friends outside of the Rez pack to be buddy-buddy with.

"Well, look, I know you got Kevin's crew working on the rest of roofing. If I finish these last three, can I ask a favor?"

"As much as I'd like to say I'd happily turn my back so you could push Todd off of the roof and make it look like an accident, we can't really do that. Unions and all that shit," Dan explained, still amused.

"That's okay," Paul sighed as if it was a horrible mistake." Can I ask for something else then?"

"I guess if I can't let you get away with murder, you're allowed something else. What's up?"

"Something's come up and I'm kind of needed at home for a couple of weeks. Would you mind if I took off?"

"Everything okay?" Dan asked, his smile dropping and being replaced by a serious expression. Paul had never asked off for any time, even going so far as to work holiday weekends to ensure the company finished their contracts on time. Paul was a strong worker, never outwardly bitched to him about timelines and never had to be told to redo something because it was wrong.

Not wanting to share personal details of his life and also not wanting to give an excuse that Dan might turn down, Paul decided to use the guy approach: Lie out his ass and make it sound bachelor related.

"Well, that depends. My cousin is getting married at the end of the two weeks and his nerves are shot. I have to go visit him and remind his dumb ass that he was the one to propose in the first place, all the while planning the biggest and hottest bachelor party I can." Waggling his eyebrows, Paul watched as Dan fell for it; hook, line and sinker.

"I can relate, man. Is this your cousin's first time?" At Paul's nod, Dan just snorted. "Me, I'm working on bitch number three. Damn what a guy won't do for a hot piece of ass, ehh?"

"Yeah, I hear you," Paul agreed before dropping his voice conspiratorially. "But along with this wedding is the possibility of some hot bride's maids and you know how they act!"

_Cue the slight elbow nudge_, Paul thought as he did just that, making sure it was within normal human tolerance.

"Do I ever!" Dan agreed, happy that Paul's request was so simple. "Yeah, go ahead and take the time off. It's a good thing this wedding is now and not next month. You know we have that office building to renovate."

"Yeah, I know," Paul said, winking again. "Hopefully, I'll have some new tales to share with the kiddies."

Laughing uproariously, Dan took off to inspect another unit, leaving Paul to drop his trademark smirk. Hopefully when he did come back to work, he'd have a happily situated urchin and wouldn't feel like peeling off his fingernails in agony over any future mistakes. Thank god he had been able to convince his boss to give him some time off.

Paul spent the next four hours lining tar paper, stapling it in places and hammering shingles into place. Thankfully Dan thought he was just anxious to plan a bachelor's party and didn't say anything when Paul declined from joining a few of the other guys to lunch.

"Here," Dan offered around two o'clock. Handing a sweaty Paul a fast food bag, the hardworking construction worker nodded his thanks, dropping a hammer and rolling over to sit on his ass.

'I can't believe this one is almost done, too," Dan commented, admiring the quality work of newly shingled roof, the second one of the three Paul had promised to take care of alone. A strong, talented worker could easily handle three roofs a day. They'd be tired as shit and probably wouldn't be able to move for the next week, but Paul was not only doing this alone but in less than a normal ten hour workday. Dan was damn lucky to have a worker like Paul and he knew it.

Wiping his hands on his dirty jeans, Paul tried not to grin as the smell of burgers assaulted him. He started to feel guilty as shit again when he remembered that he had not only completely fucking forgotten about food for his urchin but that he had also failed to realize he hadn't even had food to make his own goddamn lunch.

While not cheap, Paul was frugal and only allowed himself to eat out for lunch no more than once a week with the crew, usually on Fridays as a type of mini celebration for the work week to be ending. They did work on Saturdays, but with a skeleton crew for the guys who had to take time off during the week to make up for the lost time, or if in a crunch an opportunity to get some overtime to finish the project.

"Thanks for the grub," Paul finally said after finishing his first burger and quickly tearing into the second one.

"Hey, I can't have one of my star workers dying of starvation," Dan joked, not realizing how shattering the words were to Paul. Looking out over the complexes, he spotted Todd angrily gesturing to the building they were on.

"Todd's trying to rile Kevin up about your work style," Dan remarked quietly heading to the ladder. "I better go down there and tell him to shut up before I have two whining infants on my hands."

"Kevin won't care. He'll let Todd carry on and say nothing then just ignore him." Laughing loudly at both the thoughts of what Dan was probably imagining and what he could hear, Paul called out quietly to Dan's retreating figure. "We both know Kevin is fucking glad it's me up here showing off and not Todd. That'd set his shit back by at least two weeks."

Pausing on the ladder, Dan laughingly agreed. "I'll have to remember that if Kevin does decide to bitch; him or any of his team. They should be kissing my ass. Maybe I can threaten the team and tell them to shut the hell up, or I'll make sure they always get Todd as a partner."

Paul grinned as he watched his foreman continue down the ladder, enjoying the rest for a few minutes before tossing his bag over the rooftop to hit a dumpster located on the side of the complex used for construction debris. Picking up the previously discarded hammer, he began to work again, trying to keep his wolf from digging out of his skin in worry over his little urchin and what she might be doing.


	9. Not part of the story

WE INTERRUPT THIS STORY FOR A BIT OF HOSTILITY: READ ME!

Yesterday, a friend sent me a link to a fanfic of theTwilight genre, claiming it to be one of the worst lemons ever written. I won't say what story it was, but if any fic could have used help, it would have been that one. I then started to fic dive (a nasty habit I try to avoid) and wanted to cry. I'll be the first to admit, I am a review WHORE! I get shit for writing except reviews and have a hard time convincing myself to do my best when I can't even receive a decent amount of feedback, considering the traffic flow, So….

…here it is. The worst possible thing I could think to write of, the crappiest sex scene to be imagined. If this is what you guys want; this type of half-assed, non-planned shit, tell me. This is unbeta'd and I didn't even bother to reread so I wouldn't be surprised if it's full of errors.

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><p>"Watch my finger, Bella," Paul instructed, slowly passing it back and forth in front of her face, occasionally dropping his hand to rub her heavenly nether regions.<p>

"Paauulll," she whined seductively in a high, grating, 'come fuck me, now!' voice. "What are you doing?"

"Shh, sweet cakes, I'm using werewolf mind tricks on you. Blood suckers aren't the only ones who can dazzle their prey," Paul explained, starting to loosen his cut offs.

Letting them fall to the floor of the glass elevator they were riding in, he leaned back to push the emergency stop button. Luckily he was somewhat of an electronic genius and was able to not only wrench open the panel and disable the alarm that ALWAYS went off when a person hit an emergency stop button, but he was also able to cut the feed to the video camera that were also ALWAYS present in large commercial building elevators.

Any voyeurism that was to take place would happen through the glass surrounding them and not be recorded for later public prosecution. Not that Paul knew anything about that; he was a small town boy, from an obviously small town that didn't even have elevators.

Back to the short dropping, he let them hit the ground and then man handled himself. He was already as hard as a…well he was as hard as a fucking werewolf! Jesus, he'd sound like he had a soft dick if he said he was as hard as a rock; werewolves could break rocks after all and he was harder than that!

He was still doing the crazy mojo with his finger, Bella's eyes following obediently, her mouth wide open and her tongue doing some type of crazy exorcist movement in sexual excitement.

Paul would really like to feel that crazy movement around his dick.

Slowly he lowered his finger to sway next to his penis, easing the movement of his finger and resuming the motion with his dick, swinging it back and forth and careful not to accidentally smack his tiny, little, soon to be, fuck buddy with it. It'd suck, and not in the fun way, if she became bruised before he could even stick it in her somewhere.

"That's it, Bella. Watch my dick hypnotize you. You are getting hornier, you want it, tell me you want it now," Paul coached in his Justin Bieber voice. That shit drove the chicks to suck his nuts!

Bella's tongue, which now resembled a rabid Saint Bernard's in spit volume, washed over her face, his stomach, her own boobs and anything else within a three foot radius; her clumsy, ordinary, but oh such a fucking turn on, fingers trying to take her own clothes off unsuccessfully.

"Let me do that," Paul volunteered, ripping her garments off quickly while her tongue bathed him. He stopped the ripping long enough to admire the prudish black laced bra and g-string she had carefully worn, hidden under her school-marm Dolce & Gabbana cocktail dress.

By the time he clothes were nothing more than a tattering of cloth, Bella had wrapped her tongue around Paul's piece of man meat; god it was hot!

"Bella, oh my god, that is so hot," Paul told her, in case she didn't know and also to encourage her. Her tongue wrapped around his 2 liter width sized dick and tugged hungrily at it.

"Umm, Bella," Paul said hesitantly before moaning as she snuck her tongue to the tip of his dick that was leaking. "That's…not…how…oh fuck, that feels good…," Paul gave up and just let her have his way with him. She was a virgin and he could be somewhat patient this first time.

The only people surprised when Paul came so quickly were the foreign tourists watching from twenty stories below, their smart phones zooming in to snap pictures for their vacation albums.

He blew his load like Old Faithful, some of the glass in the elevator becoming streaked with thick, gooey, cum.

"I made you cum," Bella giggled adorably retracting her tongue and smiling sheepishly up at Paul.

"Yes you did," he agreed languidly before his stamina returned and his dick popped up back to life. "Now, it's my turn."

Picking up the surprised girl, he pressed her against the glass, her butt making a perfect imprint in the cum; the cameras below snapping double time.

"I love you," Paul sighed as he spread her legs wide, running his tongue back and forth over her finger lickin' good core.

The sweet and tangy love hole began to drip even more honey nectar on his tongue, his huge man cock wagging excitedly against the glass.

"You taste so good, sugar," Paul explained, moaning in delight when her plump clit popped up between her luscious, creamy folds of sex.

Gently he played with her pearl of desire, using his talented tongue to dance around the flesh in the tango of life.

"Bells," Paul panted in lust, moving her hips up and down to ride his face. "You remember when you made me watch that crappy musical, Moulin Rogue and the dorky lead actor was singing?"

"Yes…yes…YES!" Bella screeched trying to wrap her legs around the head buried in between her legs.

"I have to sing like that, sing to your beautiful dripping channel of erotic desire," Paul told her before starting to sing.

"Bella, your pussy is my song,"

"I hope you dot mind, I hope you don't mind,

That I put my tongue down here

How wonderful my life is, now that I can eat you out,"

Paul continued to lick and sing off key, adding his own words to reflect just how much he worshipped her temple of perfection and how sweet a pussy it really was.

"Paul, I'm going to come," Bella whimpered as his deep voice hit a particular note in the song, causing her wet dripping folds to shutter back and forth like window awnings.

"Not yet, my little Milky Way," he crooned, dipping two fingers inside of her creamy, caramel tasting center and pumping them in a smooth jack rabbit fashion.

_That shit was tight!_ Paul thought happily, a bit surprised considering she was a virgin.

She continued a steady drip of nectar, the delicious fluid coating her folds, her core, his tongue, his fingers, her thighs and his chin.

"Okay, my tarty tasting Sweet Tart, taste yourself," Paul demanded, shoving his syrupy fingers into her sweet, beckoning and welcoming mouth, her tongue licking like a Lollipop champ at the offering.

"Mmphs…Pmfep", she return moaned around his large, baseball mitt sized fingers.

'Now you can come, my Candy Kiss," he growled, sucking had on her peaked clit, "NOW!" Paul screamed in his Shaka Zulu warrior voice, also coming again in heavy streams when his tiny bird of desire, showered her own come all over his face.

"That's it, my Gobstopper Goddess, give it all to your daddy wolf."

With an adequate puddle sized amount of human and wolf cum on the ground, Paul lowered the quivering love bunny of his life gently to the ground, lavishing her tits with more kisses and sucking action.

"I need more, Paul," Bella sobbed in desire, jerking her hips in need.

"I'll give you more, but are you sure?" He asked, carefully. "Once I start, I won't be able to stop. It's impossible."

"Yes, I'm sure," the coy girl answered, blushing prettily. "I don't want you to ever stop."

"How did I get so lucky to be blessed with the best tasting piece of love on the planet?" Paul asked his woman, raining kisses like drops of love across her body.

"This might hurt, but you can hold on to me tightly," he instructed, lining up his aching cock to her needy pussy, pushing it in softly and whimpering loudly as she stretched to fit him.

His once again dripping cock, touched her badge of innocence.

"Please don't stop," Bella continued to beg, trying to rock her hips to take more of the heat inside of her aching channel.

"Your wish is my command," Paul announced, the flimsy barrier no match against the strength of a werewolf cock as he tore through it.

Through the continued flashings of tourist cameras, Paul rode Bella hard, fucking her in twenty six different positions, each one causing the couple to cum together in perfect harmony. When they were finally done, they licked each other clean, declaring their undying love to each other in between renewed fervor and a standing ovation of applause from the sight seers below.


	10. Chapter 9

A/N: WOW! So most of you recognized what the last chapter was about and stepped up *nods in thanks*. There were a couple of you who were highly offended and left such a hissy of a reply, I couldn't help but giggle. ;D

Hugs and kisses to my beta, Shadowpast620 for beta'ing.

Okay, we now return to regularly scheduled update. Enjoy!

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><p>"Jacob?" Nadine called to her husband as she heard him enter the house from out back, mumbling under his breath.<p>

Clicking on the small fragile bud in the photo, she cropped out the other blooms to highlight the beauty of this lone flower. She had promised the groundskeeper she wouldn't disrupt the shallow lighting these flowers needed, and she hadn't. The bud, however, was too shaded, though, to appear as more than an unnoticeable weed.

"Naddy, honey, I have to run to the store as a favor," Jacob called, searching for his keys. "I'll be back in a little bit, okay?" he asked, ducking his head into the den his wife was currently occupying. Seeing that she was utterly engrossed in a project, he continued on down the hall.

_The keys just didn't magically disappear_, Jacob thought completely disgruntled. Where the hell had he placed them?

"Tank called from the shop about half an hour ago looking for you," his wife said, her husky voice always an instant turn on to Jake. He paused in his search just to absorb the feeling her voice always evoked. "Something about socking a wrench at the nuttless luggers," Nadine replied absentmindedly, as she enlarged the bud before opening the paint pallet.

In small, neat handwriting, she had written down the hue spectrums of what the bud would look like in full light and with a surgeon's precision used her mouse to add delicate strips of lavender, periwinkle and mauve.

Stopping mid-hunt thoughts for his mechanized keys—the damn things had to be able to walk, he could never find them- Jacob returned to the den to stare blankly at his wife, trying to process what she had just said.

"The socket wrenches won't fit the new lug nuts?" Jacob translated, his anger quickly rising when he realized what he had just said. "I told him to recheck the damn invoices and make sure they were of the right size before signing off. Those were imported and cost a damn fortune!"

"I know," Nadine replied sadly, still manipulating the shot. "I told him that, too, but he said you needed to give him a call."

"Did you really, honey?" Jacob asked, grinning despite his ire. Damn, his wife was awesome.

Hitting save, she swiveled away from her laptop giving Jake a bright smile in return. "Of course not. I have no idea what he was so upset about, other than he mentioned socking it to a nut."

Jacob leaned over to give her a passionate kiss, pulling back and still smiling. "Sooner or later, honey, I'll make you into a mechanic girl. You had all the words right at least; just not in the right order."

Nadine laughed just as happily as Jake. He was such a guy, wanting his girl to be some type of biker babe in the making. "I'm sure you'll keep trying" she acquiesced, "but I'm telling you, I'm strictly a photo girl."

_Yes she was_, Jacob thought appreciatively. He was one of the few wolves who could actually accompany his girl to work most of the time since a lot of Nadine's shots were of nature. It wasn't uncommon for them to meet up at a planned location, Jacob slightly furry and hidden nearby while his wife talked softly waiting for when he deemed it safe enough to show himself and not be accidently seen by people who were also in the area.

"And as soon as I get back, we'll practice some photography," Jacob agreed all too willing. "You; me; no clothes; and a camera to record all of our luscious activities."

Nadine couldn't stop smiling. She loved her horny man. "You mean lascivious?"

"Oh, yes, those, too," Jacob agreed, semi seriously. Spotting his keys on the floor next to his shoes, he gave triumphant 'ah ha', snagging them up and checking to make sure he had his wallet.

Nadine's smile faltered as she watched her man get ready to leave, remembering he had said he was going shopping. "Jacob we just went to the store. What could you possibly have forgotten?"

"I told you, Naddy, I'm doing a favor," Jacob explained, adding quickly, "It's not for us," when his imprint continued to frown.

"A favor?" Nadine asked her husband, causing him to slouch a bit. _Ruh-roh! She doesn't sound happy._ "For who?"

At his wife's narrowed gaze, Jacob felt like he had been caught red-handed with his hand in the cookie jar; an actual fairly common occurrence in the Black's house. "A favor for Paul," Jake finally said, not making eye contact.

"Paul Lahote doesn't ask for favors, Jacob," Nadine reminded her wolf. "What bet did you lose that would require you to have to do anything for him?"

Jacob sighed. He was in for it either way. Paul was just as much of an ass to the guys as he was the imprints and Nadine had actually said he was no longer allowed over. Not since last year when there had been a party at the Black's house to celebrate their engagement and Paul had brought a date with him; a date she later walked in on him fucking against one of her prized photos of a rare bird.

The total awkwardness didn't happen until later when Paul asked Nadine if his date, Deidre, had made the same type of cawing the bird in the picture did when he made her come.

"Paul imprinted," Jacob offered, hoping it would work to appease some of Nadine's hostility towards his pack brother.

Jake watched as his wife stared blankly at him. She looked like she had never heard of the word 'imprinting' before. Her mind must have finally kicked itself into gear when she started to smile.

"Wow," Nadine said hesitantly, wondering what poor unfortunate soul had gotten saddled with a jerk like Paul. "That's…great. What's the problem?"

_Shit! How to explain…_

"He forgot to buy food." Jacob shrugged with indifference. Clipped honesty was just as good as detailed honesty.

"Aaannnndd….what; they're too sore to leave the house? That figures," Nadine commented, smirking over the memories of her and Jake's first couple of weeks together. Food had certainly been the last thing on their minds but they had managed; very creatively, too, considering they had used each other's body as plates.

"Actually he hasn't told her yet," Jake admitted.

"Right, right, we have to wait for the ceremonial bonfire," Nadine agreed before abruptly switching subject. "Speaking of which, did he get it? What does it look like?"

"I…what?" Jacob asked in confusion. Was she asking him what Paul's imprint looked like?

"The ring," Nadine clarified, exited for her friend Kim's expected proposal. "Isn't that what this is all about? The planning of the bonfire so Paul can tell his girlfriend she's the proud owner of a wolf and Jared can propose to Kim? What kind of ring did he buy? You guys were out last night I figured he would've been thinking about it nonstop. I talked to Kim earlier and she said Jared was acting weird last night, really quiet and stuff. Is he flipping out over what Kim will think?"

Jacob really didn't want to worry his imprint about the messed up details of Jared and Paul's trip yesterday. Nadine had been asleep by the time he had come home last night and now was not the time to share the many details of what had happened. "I don't think Jared's worried about what Kim will think when he does finally buy the ring. Yesterday something unexpected happened and he's a bit rankled by it."

"Why?" She asked, concerned for the concern she heard in Jake's voice.

"I told you, Paul imprinted. He and Jared were walking around downtown and she just kind of appeared out of nowhere. They had to chase her and she got hurt; Paul brought her home last night."

"Is she okay? How did she get hurt?" Nadine questioned sharply any previous joy for Paul imprinting disappearing. Leave it to Lahote to hurt the woman designated to be his kindred spirit

Looking at his watch again, Jacob frowned, he wanted to be able to run to the shop first and then get the stuff for Paul. "If you have the time and want to, I'll tell you on the way."

Slipping on her moccasins, Nadine stood up, not surprised to find Jake had grabbed a jacket for her. "Let's go."

On the way to the shop, Jacob told his wife a brief version of what had happened yesterday. He stopped by the shop for ten minutes to give Tank a talk about his 'nuttless luggers' and then the two went to the grocery store in the nearby town of Forks.

Jacob grabbed a cart and hurried to catch up with his wife who was talking a mile a minute. "What exactly did Paul say to buy? Did he tell you what she likes or did he even ask?"

"Paul told Sam who told us this morning that the girl hasn't even talked yet. She's in bad shape, though," Jake said softly, unable to ignore the vision of a brutally treated girl, now imprint.

His wife came to a complete standstill to stare at her husband. Jake hadn't said anything to indicate the imprint was still suffering.

"Bad shape how?" Nadine asked shrewdly, wondering if she should call Leah and have the two of them go over to Lahote's house and give him a beat down.

Jake knew that look and hastened to clarify. "Sue was over there last night and said she should probably spend a couple of days in the hospital for observation. Paul freaked and Sue eventually relented."

"Okay," Nadine nodded affirmatively, heading off with Jacob tagging behind her with the cart again.

He didn't say anything as she chose different soups, puddings, Jell-o's, and fruits all prepackaged. She also loaded up on some dairy products and lunchmeats and fresh bread.

Jacob loved his wife and her willingness to help a girl she didn't even know considering said girl was now Paul's; the same wolf Nadine had betted on with the other imprints as to when he'd be the first wolf to get crabs or syphilis. Word within the imprint circle was that wolf immunity or not, Paul would probably fuck himself into the grave, not including the romp he had bragged about concerning the twenty year old widow at her deceased husband's funeral.

"Do you even know what you're doing?" he finally asked gently, watching as she read the labels on the back of two different types of crackers, throwing one into the cart and the other back on the shelf and then walking over to the next aisle to add juice and Gatorade.

"Jake, if she's underfed then stuffing her with junk food and the crap you guys usually eat could kill her. Not literally," she added watching Jake face blanch, "but she should probably start with lighter, less flavorful things and work her way up."

"Shit! Seriously?" Jake questioned, wondering why he hadn't thought to ask Nadine earlier when he had been making an impromptu lunch for Ariel. He didn't know if he should be relieved or worried when he saw that in the cart, there was sandwich stuff and cheese.

"Yes, seriously," Nadine said walking down the aisle to a section of cookies and then chose a box of oatmeal designed for toddlers before looking to see that Jake hadn't followed. "Why," she asked suddenly suspicious.

"I…well…now probably isn't the best time to tell you, but I made her a lunch and gave her a sandwich, orange and some chips. I didn't know she would require a special diet," Jake finished mournfully, really hoping he hadn't hurt the poor girl further in his attempt to help.

Nadine walked back up the aisle, adding the cookies into the growing pile before cupping both of Jake's checks. "Honey, I'm sure it'll be fine. She's an adult and will know what her system can and can't handle; I just want to make sure she has a large enough variety to choose from."

Placing his own hands over the smaller ones still cupping his, Jake leaned forward to kiss his wife. "Okay, honey, thanks."

"Besides," Nadine continued, taking a step back "I'm pretty sure Paul can't cook. With most of this stuff, they should be able to manage to eat without burning the house down and later, when she's feeling better, he can take her to the store and they can plan meals together."

"I love you," Jake sighed watching as she headed towards the last area of fresh produce.

"I know you do," Nadine smiled back grabbing various fruits and vegetables, the finally object being two clusters of bananas. As she put both into the cart and started to walk towards the checkout, Jake gave her a funny look.

"One of the clusters is for later at our photo shoot," Nadine promised with a twinkle in her eye.

"God, have I told you how happy you make me?" Jake said, adding a cartoon of strawberries before hustling after his waiting imprint.

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><p><em>Shit! How the fuck could I have been so goddamn stupid to forget about the simple necessity of food?<em>

Paul bereted himself as he sped home, only slightly thankful he had put gas in the jeep this morning or else he would've ditched the vehicle to run to La Push.

_God, had she cried? Was she terrified that he was going to starve her?_

Paul couldn't handle any more of the fucking guilt! He knew he was guilty, but shit. Somewhere in his fucked up mind, he had decided it would be a grand damn scheme to let her stay home and relax, maybe watch some TV or…

Double shit! What the hell had she thought after reading his note? He hadn't mentioned the TV and she probably wouldn't even know how to turn the foreign piece of shit on. Hell, it had taken him and two other wolves to figure out how to wire the shit correctly in the first place and then another two hours to determine that "power" on the remote control sure as fuck didn't mean the same thing as "on".

Then there was the thing with her getting outside to find the food she had so desperately needed. He wasn't mad she had figured out a way, but it rankled the shit out of Paul as to how she had. He had thought to immediately replace the lock this evening with a more traditional one, but what if he needed to up the security instead? Jake hadn't said a goddamn thing about vamps which meant some loose psychopath must have a key to his house. Either that or some perverted locksmith just happened to break into his house today.

There was no question as to if, but when, he would erupt into his wolf and hunt down the fucktard who had dared to mess with not only his house, but his mate! The fucker better start enjoying the last hour or so of life he had 'cause Paul Lahote was going to eat the bitch and then fart his remains in the wind.

Once Paul drove past the 'Welcome to La Push' sign, he nearly ate the dashboard as he braked hard.

_What if his urchin still hadn't made it back to the house and he accidentally ran her over while trying to get home?_

The thought almost made Paul slam on the emergency break and dive out of the window to turn furrylicious and find his urchin that much quicker.

Creeping into his driveway like a blue hair driving a Caddy, Paul felt a nauseating sense of déjà vu once he spotted his impatiently waiting Alpha.

"Paul," Sam, began before he could even leave his jeep. "Do you know I had to argue with my girl last night because of you?"

Pulling his keys out of the ignition and hoping out of his vehicle, Paul slammed the jeep door, strolling quickly towards his house with a foaming Alpha at his heels.

"Not really my fault, now is it, Uley?" Paul answered, nodding to a sheepish looking Jacob who had several grocery bags at his feet.

Paul made it as far as the steps before being physically stopped.

"Would you like to know what we were discussing at three a.m. before I called you?" Sam demanded, grabbing his errant wolf.

'Actually, no, I don't really care," Paul shot back, wanting nothing more than to get inside and check on his urchin. He pushed Sam's hand off of him. "Feel free to tell me if you did what I suggested and shoved Leah's concern up her ass, though.

"Paul, you left her locked inside of your house for nearly ten hours with no way to ask for help or even leave if she really wanted to. Did we or did we not discuss the kidnapping issue?"

"Fuck off, Sam. I haven't fucking kidnapped anyone, including my urchin, or Arial as I've been informed your imprint has decided to call her."

Sam shook Paul's arm roughly only to be shrugged off again. "Damn it, Paul, Leah is really concerned that you're going to mess this up and after today, I agree with my girl. You promised to look after her and instead, she's out digging around in people's trash because you didn't feed her."

The reminder was not needed and Paul all but exploded in furriness with his anger.

"Well, which the fuck is it? Am I a kidnapper because I locked her in my house, or am I an abuser because I forgot to make sure there was food. Christ, I didn't do that shit on purpose and I made sure to take care of it as soon as I realized my fuckup and had Jake do some shopping for me."

Another nod to the now frowning mentioned wolf.

"As for kidnapping," Paul continued to spew, hating every last fucking word that had left his Alpha's mouth, "she managed to get out of the house anyway and since the front door is still hinged and not blown to shit, I'd guess she wasn't quite the hostage you're making her out to be."

Out of all the wolves, Sam hadn't expected Paul to change from imprinting, but the seriousness of the situation made the Alpha's hackles rise.

"Do you even know what the hell you're doing, Paul?" He yelled, hurrying after the wolf trying to disappear inside of his house. "You can't leave her here alone while going off to work every day."

Paul shoved his door key roughly into the lock, trying to twist it and get inside away from his furry furor. "She's not an idiot, you fuckwit. I don't need to assign her a goddamn babysitter when I go to work."

Slamming his hand across the door frame, Sam prevented Paul from moving inside of the house. "She is a scared, abused and mistreated person, Paul. Imprint or not, you cannot do this. If I have to, I will remove her from your house and Leah can care for her until she understands what we are, and if she wants to stay, or not."

"I took care of it, okay, Alpha?" Paul scathed, releasing his hand from the key jammed into the door to shove against Sam. "I had to finish my project so the next crew could come in and do theirs. Dan agreed to let me have a few weeks off so I can be here night and day to make sure my imprint is taken care of."

"You aren't listening to me, Paul," Sam whispered sharply, keenly aware of an increasingly rapid heartbeat from inside. "You promised to look after her and give her a better life and instead she is no better off than she was, still scrounging for a way to survive. I made Quil stay phased so I could view his memories. Did you know she is still wearing the same crusty clothes as she was yesterday? And it doesn't even look like she cleaned up. Her hair is still a greasy mess and doesn't look like it was combed out or brushed."

Paul's eyes grew wide in disbelief. "When the fuck was I supposed to that, Sam? Should I have woken her up in the middle of the night after your nosey bitch made you call me?"

Sam's hand shot out quickly to encircle Paul's neck, his anger causing his fingers to shake. "Do not refer to my mate as a bitch. I am Alpha and as such, you will respect me and my imprint, no matter what she says or does to twist your nuts in a vice."

With a tug, he pulled Paul away from the door and down the steps, careful to avoid any windows where the girl might see. Once in the forest, Sam continued to drag a struggling Paul over to the tree the girl who climbed up in barely an hour ago.

"What do you see, Paul? What the fuck does that look like to you?" Sam demanded, pushing Paul into the tree and stepping back, huffing in anger.

The urge to fight drained from Paul as he smelled his urchin, the metallic scent of blood causing him to…well, not whine. Paul wasn't that much of a bitch, but the sound was pretty fucking pathetic. His eyes lurched upwards to spot the object in question and grabbing the closest limb, he swung his body up to snag the bag, landing silently on his feet.

Seeing the untouched sandwich, chips and fruit, Paul looked up quickly to Sam's face. "She still hasn't eaten?" he whispered, panic like a sheet of ice water washing over him.

"No, she ate," Sam placated, just as confused as Paul. "Although, I'm not sure how much. Jake said he put two sandwiches in there and one is clearly missing. The question is, why did she leave the rest out here, hidden?"

Paul tried not to let his mind speculate on the possibilities; what the fuck did he know of how women's thoughts processes worked? He tried, he really did, but the only conclusion he could come up with hurt worse than the thought of chewing his hand off right then and there.

"She's afraid that I mean to starve her," he finally whispered, feeling as though he had just admitted to slaying a room full of puppies.

_Or little urchins_, his subconscious supplied none too helpfully.

Paul's fingers clenched around the bag, the contents bursting to coat his hands in a mess of destroyed food.

_His mate feared for her well being from her wolf…_

The mental declaration felt like Paul had injected battery acid into his veins, his entire system shaking, burning and…fucking dying! In less than one day he had probably single handedly destroyed the greatest gift he could have ever been given, the only gift all of his pack brothers had received and he thought he never would: A mate.

Sam stepped forward to grab the man's shoulders, feeling the pain as if it were his own. This girl meant the world to Paul and his wolf felt ashamed.

"Paul, listen to me…Paul!" Sam spoke up when the man failed to acknowledge him. "I just need you to understand where we are all coming from. Even a normal imprinting is rough, but this…this is something that will take time and patience; from all of us. And even then, we might not be enough to help her."

Paul really started to gasp and fucking choke with that declaration. How the hell could he not be enough for her? She was meant to be with him; the completion pieces to his fucked up puzzled soul and Sam had the nerve to say it might not be enough?

Paul's form began to shimmer, a blurring of movement between human and wolf. The wolf was pissed and hurt, it needed to be released, grab its mate by the scruff of her neck, find a soft corner and lick her senseless until they were both calm and happy.

The Alpha in Sam reacted just as quickly. His arms dropped to Paul's side, wrapping the shaking form in a tight hug with an audible litany of 'we are pack; we are one; we are strong' falling from Sam's lips.

The shaking subsided as the words and actions penetrated Paul's mind. He was not alone in this world; he had a mate to take care of and a pack to help him through the rough patches.

Lowering his eyes in deference, Paul waited until Sam let him go, the need to be the lone wolf replaced by the need to be accepted by his pack; he and his imprint.

"I'm sorry for saying what I did about Leah," Paul started brokenly, thinking about the life he wanted with his urchin. "But you have to understand that I am trying. Do you think I carelessly just left her here without a thought as to her well being? If it had even occurred to me that there wasn't any food, I would've run over to one of my pack mate's houses and grabbed some stuff for her."

Looking back up at Sam's expressive face, Paul tried to explain his reasoning for leaving his little urchin in the house by herself. "She doesn't know any of us, Sam. You saw Quil's memories; Jake told me they couldn't approach, that she was scared shitless. I appreciate your concern, but I need her to be comfortable with me before she can be comfortable with anyone else and if you take her away, that will never happen."

Taking a step back and turning away from him, Sam was ashamed of his actions. "I know you're trying, Paul. I think we all do. None of us know how to react about what we hear or see. We see a girl that has been selected to be a part of our pack through imprinting and we want her to accept you as much as the rest of us."

Closing his eyes and clenching his fists as tightly as Paul had moments earlier, Sam tried to continue without crying. "We look at her and all we see is a broken figure; a girl that life has kicked down over and over again and we want to help her, but are unable to get close enough to do so."

Thinking about the unique love he had for Leah, Sam took in a deep breath before turning back around to face Paul.

"But we are family and we take care of our own. It may be hard for all of us, but don't shut us out because you think you need to handle it on your own. If you need an imprint to come over to make the girl feel more comfortable with a female presence, call us. If you have to leave the house for whatever reason and she can't go with you, call one of the wolves. They don't have to be in the house with her, but you could give them a key and if something sounds funny, they can quietly check it out.

"That sounds fair," Paul agreed quietly, his mind racing. If need be, in the future, he could call on pack, but right now he just wanted him and urchin time. Alone.

"Good!" Looking towards the direction of Paul's house, Sam smiled. "I think your girl might have heard us yelling, I can hear her heart."

Both wolves could hear the erratic human heart beat from within the house, signally like a distress beacon to Paul. Crouching to the ground, he rubbed his soiled hands over the pine needles coating the ground, his eyes catching sight of balled fabric near the trunk of the tree his girl had climbed.

"What are those?" Sam asked as he watched Paul unroll a pair of work socks.

Numbly, Paul laid them across his thighs, unable to even guess as to how a pair of his socks had made it this far from the house. He didn't have to bring them to his nose to sniff the socks, but did so anyways, detecting his little urchin before the fabric brushed across his face.

"Shit," Sam breathed out deeply, understanding that the girl's scent was emitting directly from the cloth as well the tree where he had thought had been the sole source.

"She didn't wear them," Paul spoke robotically, his fingers trailing over the shabby looking socks and they were; horribly fucking shabby, the elastic almost shot and tiny beads of cotton bunched together from the friction of feet. He didn't know why she'd choose this pair over any of the newer and nicer ones he had, but she had.

"The weather is changing," Sam commented, inhaling deeply to allow his wolf to taste the crispness of autumn. "Living as she has been, it's possible your girl could detect the sharpness sweeping in on undercurrents. Maybe she wanted them because she was cold, or thought she'd be cold?"

"She shouldn't feel cold, Alpha. My girl should be warm and bundled and never have to feel any type of coldness: body, mind or spirit," Paul pledged to himself at the end, dropping the socks onto the ground and standing back up.

"And she won't Paul; she has you now to help her, and us," Sam offered, useless as to what else he could possibly say.

"Yes, she will," Paul agreed, striding quickly back to the front door of his house; his and his little urchin's home; Sam, trailing at a discrete pace.

With a quick nod of thanks to Jake for getting some food and another apologetic smile to Sam, Paul hurried inside of his house, anxious to see his little urchin.


	11. Chapter 10

Paul didn't bother to unlock the door and open it super quietly, or any of that shit. His urchin knew there were people there, although it never occurred to Paul that she might not know it was him.

"Urchin, I'm home. Where are you?" Paul called out, taking the groceries in as far as the threshold and ignoring them for the moment as he dropped them haphazardly in a pile in the entryway to see where she was.

Bella didn't want to run and hide, but she was really, really scared. Her nap had been abruptly canceled when the sound of a hand hitting the door jolted her from sleep. Cautiously she had sat up, straining to hear what had made it and then fleeing from the couch when more than one male's voice could be heard on the other side.

That Paul man had come back and he brought friends. There was no way she could get to the basement and back out; she should've tried to run when she first heard the first voices, but had assumed he was alone. She could handle one attacker; more than that and she was doomed. Why had she thought he wouldn't share her?

"Hey, can you hear me?" Paul called out again, sensing her presence down the hall and in his room. Her heart sounded really fast and Paul was flipping the fuck out. Could starvation cause a person to have a heart attack?

Passing the living room, he frowned realizing she hadn't taken the pill he had left out for her. Grabbing the small package, he continued on, his worry increasing by every inch of space he covered.

Clearing his bedroom's doorway, he stopped short, taking in the balled up figure in the corner of his room. She was crouched low to the ground, holding the blanket from last night in front of her like a shield. Just like Sam had said, she hadn't showered or bathed.

Stepping further into the room, Paul could see her trembling increased, slowing his own movements until he was still a good eight feet away from her. Bending his knees, he waited until she decided to look up at him, his face showing nothing of what he was feeling.

Finally she peeked up, the fear practically oozing out of her eyes.

"Hey," Paul said quietly, trying to show he meant no harm as he came closer. "Are you okay; how's your head?"

Her eyebrow twitched, but other than that she gave no indication as to what, or how she was feeling.

"Look, I wanted to say I'm really fucking sorry about forgetting there was no food here. Do you think you feel like coming into the kitchen with me and deciding on dinner? A friend went shopping for me and…"trailing off, Paul became immediately t concerned when she started to shake, clueless that telling her about friends was as good as outright hitting her.

He knew she had hurt herself on the tree so when his little urchin's fingers clenched tightly, digging into the new wound and permeating his senses with the smell of blood, he kind of fucking panicked.

"Shit! Don't hurt yourself," he ordered, his hand shooting out to grab her smaller ones.

He slipped one finger in between her fingers and gently lifted it up, enough so that her fingers weren't embedded in flesh and he could see her palms.

"Jesus, what the hell did you do?" Paul asked more to himself, seeing his girl's dirty and blood streaked hand. There was entirely too much dirt for her to have just climbed a tree.

Tugging the blanket away as well, Paul watched his urchin cower further; her pants that had been slightly clean, now utterly fucking filthy with mud, leaves and twigs.

He'd fucking kill Quil if the ass had dragged her through the forest.

Pulling his finger back, Paul stood up, watching as she closed her eyes and panted.

"Stay right here; I'll be right back." Darting into the bathroom, Paul grabbed a washcloth to wet, searching for a box of band-aids.

_Toothpaste, deodorant, hair gel—had he ever even used that shit?—q-tips, shaving cream, cotton balls—oh goody, he could glue them to saran wrap and make his own fucking band aids!—there wasn't anything of helpfulness or use here. _

Of course, he didn't have any goddamn bandages, being a mighty wolf and all. He slammed the cabinet shut, deciding that he'd just have to make do. Paul went back to his girl, plopping his ass down right next to her and grabbing her left wrist.

"It's just water, Urchin, it won't hurt okay?" he said, using his previous finger method to open her hand; for being such a wisp of a girl, she had a fucking tight ass grip.

He had to use some force to access her entire palm, chatting like an ass the whole time. "I'm just going to clean you up and then we can eat, okay?" Paul explained as he pried each individual finger up to run the washcloth over, paying close attention to her dirt encrusted nail beds.

"it's not really that bad," he remarked, moving on to her right hand, noting that she was probably right handed since the largest gash was on that palm. If it had been a fellow wolf, he probably would've rubbed hard with the cloth, not giving a rat's ass if it fucking hurt or not. The fact that this minuscule pad belonged to not only a girl, but his urchin's, made Paul hesitate. Knowing the shit wasn't going to disappear on its own, he brushed away most of the bigger pieces of dirt before dabbing delicately at the actual wound. It was only bleeding along the edge, from when his girl had applied pressure.

"You're going to have to be extra fucking careful, Urchin," Paul said, wiping her last dirt encrusted digit. Dropping the cloth into his lap, Paul kept his finger inside of her palm, his wolf practically drowning in drool over the way she clung to it tightly.

His own stomach began to gurgle for food and Paul sat back against the wall feeling like shit. Why did this have to be fucking tough? He didn't care that she needed help; he just wished it wasn't such a hellish struggle every time.

"You can stay in here if you want to, but I have to go put some of the stuff away; a lot of it probably needs to go in the fridge," Paul finally said, turning his head and cracking open an eye to peer at the girl.

At least her eyes weren't dead, Paul thought somewhat happily, watching the brown orbs focus on nothing in particular.

"I'll come back to check on you in a little bit, or if you want, you can come out there, okay?"

As Paul stood to leave, her eyes followed his movement. He stood there just staring at his little urchin until he realized her trembling hadn't ceased. Sighing he ran a hand over his head, wondering what he should be doing.

Bella watched when the Paul man finally left, confused as to why he was waiting so long to hurt her. The monsters sometimes did that, watching her anxiety grow and laughing when they'd make a mock grab for her and she'd jerk away.

Listening closely she realized that the Paul man was actually alone. She didn't know where he had sent his friends, but men couldn't stay quiet like this for very long. Stretching out her sore muscles, she weighed the benefits of leaving the room versus staying until he came back. He had mentioned food and while it could be a trap, it was one Bella needed to consider heavily.

If it wasn't, she could be missing out on possible future supplies. If it was a trap, he'd only hurt her sooner than he planned to anyway. Resolution set, she slowly crawled up the wall until she was standing, carrying the blanket and taking hesitant steps to the kitchen.

As she passed the living room, she decided to set the blanket back on the couch, not wanting for the man to use it against her. He could still take it away from her, but if he didn't realize how much she liked it, maybe he'd let her use it again.

Paul knew the exact minute she had moved from her previous perch, listening to the slow way she approached the kitchen. He wasn't used to female company acting shy and he couldn't decide if it was nice or not. He didn't want his little urchin to be scared of him, but she definitely wasn't one of those loud, obnoxious giggling sorts.

He could feel her hovering in the doorway, immediately recognizing the tactic. She was still scared and wanted to be the closest fucking exit as possible.

_Shit! What did he have to do to get her to trust him?_

_Talking would be nice,_ his subconscious remarked snidely. The fucking shitter sounded a lot like his inner wolf, too.

"Urchin, I was going to make some soup and sandwiches for dinner. Do you want ham or turnkey and what kind of soup do you want?" Pointing the counter where he had left some supplies, he waited to see if she'd show any preference over another and would then remember that for later.

_Time to start acting like a fucking imprinted wolf!_ That shitty subconscious reminded Paul.

_A test?_ Bella thought blankly before being bombarded by thoughts of her past decisions. The demons had done this, too, asking what she wanted and then telling her that was wrong when she finally chose. She was really happy that she had found some food earlier; otherwise she'd probably be disappointed when she made the wrong choice and he took it away.

Bella couldn't help herself as she inched her way towards the cans, making a wide berth past the Paul man to see the cans. Studying the pictures carefully while constantly glancing towards the large male figure mumbling to himself, she contemplated what would work best.

It was cold and not only would soup warm her up, but fill her tummy as well. However, after eating soup—from past experiences—she was often quickly hungry that much sooner. Plus, as she stared intently at the pictures, most looked kind of thick and would take extra time to gulp down; if she was to eat soup, two gulps of a thinner one would be more beneficial than one of a thicker variety.

Turning to stare directly at the Paul man, she raised her hand to the thinnest looking soup; a broth with noodles. The picture that was made up of a creamy base on the can next to it almost made Bella salivate on the spot, but she had to plan for the future.

Paul turned his head, watching as his little urchin's hand hover atop of the classic chicken noodle soup. It was one of the older versions more water than anything else and for the life of him he couldn't figure out why she'd want something so plain unless she didn't feel well.

"That's the one you want, Urchin; are you sure?" Paul asked, sending Bella into a panic.

He watched as she froze and then carefully nodded her head, not staring at the selection, but straight ahead to the wall in front of her. Shrugging he leaned over to grab the can, clutching tightly to the cylinder when his urchin stepped back.

"What about a sandwich to go with it? Did you want ham or turkey? Paul asked again, jerking his head towards the bags of meat sitting out, watching his urchin fret.

"Tell you what, I'll just give you both and if you don't like it, you can pull off whatever you don't want okay?" Paul finally asked, anxious to eat, so they could talk, or whatever it was they used to communicate.

She said nothing, resuming her hovered spot in the doorway, as he heated up her soup in a bowl using the microwave and then doing the same for his own. While waiting, he quickly assembled a plate of sandwiches; most with mixed meat, but a few with just one or the other. Still his little urchin didn't talk as he handed her three plates stacked on top of each other with the top one full of sandwiches and juggling the steaming bowls of soup and drinks for them.

"Do you want to sit at the table?" He asked when she failed to move. "I usually just sit on the couch and watch TV but we can sit at the table if you want to."

Bella had no idea people ate on couches and the idea sort of felt wrong to her. What if the Paul man, or she, accidently spilt the soup or dropped a sandwich? The thoughts of being forced to clean it up and punishments sent Bella scurrying over to the table, hoping he was okay with it.

She debated briefly over whether to sit with her back to the rest of the room, or in a corner where she might not be able to run as easily from. The Paul man could have friends show up and Bella might not see them come up behind her. That idea alone sent her to the corner seat, furthest in the room, but held the best view. Sometimes it was better to prepare e for what was coming rather than being taken by surprise.

She sat the plate down in front of her, unsure what she needed to do. The Paul man took a seat right next to her, pushing a bowl in her direction. Obviously the sandwiches weren't for her and with a small frown she pushed them towards Paul to take her soup. She had really been counting on being able to snag a sandwich for her pocket even though she still had part of one in her pocket and another safely stowed outside.

Paul could do nothing but continue to frown when his urchin didn't grab a sandwich. She had to fucking know she was able to, right?

Three swallows into her soup and he couldn't keep his trap shut any longer. "Are you going to eat a sandwich, urchin? They aren't all for me, you know, but I will eat them if you don't want one."

Tipping her bowl to her mouth and completely ignoring the utensil lying beside her- holy fucking shit, it was kind of sexy-Paul admitted, the small girl glanced towards him. Just as slowly she set the bowl down, her hand creeping up and across the table for a sandwich. It hovered for a minute as if judging his words, before grabbing a sandwich to place on the edge of her bowl.

Paul felt like a first class pervert. His imprint wasn't doing anything but eating and he was watching her do so like a damn strip tease, the wolf constantly relaxing with each next mouthful of soup she drank.

"I noticed you didn't take a shower today," Paul remarked casually and then wanted to rip his tongue out of his goddamn mouth as his urchin seemed to shrink further in her seat.

"You can, you know," he clarified, wanting to make sure she knew it was alright. "You can take a shower, or bath, or whatever you want to do."

Still, she remained scrunched in her seat, her eating slowing down to almost nothing.

_Shit! Why the hell hadn't he just kept that idea to himself? She probably thought he was making fun of her!_

Paul tried like shit not to eat like there was no fucking tomorrow but he was confused…and kind of a fucking werewolf. Eating like a pig was natural.

"Do you like to dip?" Paul asked unexpectedly, dragging his ham and cheese into the gooey mess of tomato soup he had chosen for himself.

He wouldn't have normally chosen such a plain ass soup, but he didn't want his imprint to feel awkward. Paul had no idea where that fucked up thought had come from.

His urchin stared in surprise, her mouth slightly open as he did so again, relishing the feel of food sliding down his throat after such a hard day at work. Another heavy scoop and he held the next bite out to her.

"Do you want to try? It's really good," he encouraged stretching his fingers nearly to her parted lips, her eyes dropping to stare cross eyed at the offered food.

Paul almost pulled his hand back, thinking she wasn't going to take a bite when his little urchin leaned forward to nibble a bit of his offering, her eyes now glued to his face as she did so.

Paul thought his inner wolf was doing a fucking can-can dance, the sudden rupture of euphoria and eroticism almost making him drop his food on the table. He had done the edible panty thing before with past fuck buddies, but there was nothing as sexy as watching his girl take a bite from his own goddamn sandwich that he was holding!

He wanted to weep in joy, drag her into his lap and beat the shit out of his wolf all at once. Had he fallen off a roof at work and suffered brain damage? Good god, no man's dick should be this hard over watching their girl eat! It couldn't be normal.

And yet, when she had eaten the first portion covered with soup, he quickly dipped the bread again and then held it out, trying not to giggle like a fucking five year old when she took the second offering as well.

"I told you it was good," Paul commented after her second bite, ready to deliver another. His little urchin gave a small smile before dropping her eyes again to her own food.

'I can get you a bowl if you want it," he offered, halfway standing up before her head began to shake.

Slowly, Paul sank back into his chair, confused. If she liked it, why didn't she want some of her own?

"Do you want mine?" He offered, nudging the bowl in her direction only to stop again when she shook her head.

His urchin sat the rest of her sandwich off to the side, leaning back in the chair and sighing…contentedly, he hoped. She made no further attempts to eat any more of her own food and Paul tried not to fret like a bitch over the small amount of food she had consumed, her bowl of soup more than three-fourths full and her sandwich barely a quarter eaten.

Shrugging mentally, he went back to his own food, scared to fucking death of saying the wrong thing to her and pretending not to notice when he watched her watching him as she snuck her hand out to grab another full sandwich; this time disappearing beneath the table, only to reappear just as quickly.

He knew—could guarantee it to the tee- that his imprint was hoarding a sandwich in fear of not getting more to eat in the future. Briefly, Paul wondered if he could excuse himself from the table for a minute to go cry like a bitch. This was just sad.

"I need to ask you something," Paul stated ten minutes later, his urchin suddenly sitting up straighter in her chair.

His goddamn wolf started to whine an irritating sound of caution. It wasn't the type of caution sound where you could possibly be ambushed by a blood sucker from the trees above and needed a proper alert. This was an annoying, buzzing sound of caution you heard when some dick told you to 'be careful' while hauling a fifteen thousand dollar piece of stained glass. 'Duh' didn't even begin to cover it.

Pushing aside the mentally furry snout that kept nipping at his ass, Paul decided that asking directly—no froufrou sidestepping- was probably the best approach. "You don't have to talk to me if you don't want to; I can deal with that. But I need you to either nod yes or no: Are you at least eighteen years old?"

_Oh...oh! What was the right answer here?_ Bella panicked mentally. If she indicated she was eighteen, the man might use her sexually, thinking it was okay since she was no longer considered a minor.

But what if he wasn't interested in her if he thought she wasn't illegal? He could turn her over to the cops and tell them she had tried to rob his friend.

If she indicated she was less than eighteen though, the man might prefer that and try to have sex with her. It had worked in her favor a lot in the past when she was bringing gifts to the monsters.

He could also not want her to be young and if she indicated she wasn't, he could still turn her over to the cops, disappointed that he couldn't keep her.

Bella didn't want to be kept, but she really didn't want him to call the cops and he had fed her! That went a long way in her book and she was willing to be kept if it meant sleeping on the couch for a time and being used. As long as he didn't hit her or call in friends. If he did that, she'd leave in a heartbeat.

Slowly she nodded her head yes, she was at least eighteen years old and then cringed, waiting to see what would happen.

Paul had literally held his fucking breath while his urchin debated on whether or not she was going to answer him. The fact that it had taken almost two minutes worried the shit out of him although it also could have been partially from oxygen deprivation.

Inhaling and exhaling loudly, Paul relaxed back into his chair. He had no reason to think she was lying and once he learned her name, he could easily find out if she was telling the truth. If she wasn't…he'd let her stay anyway and get to know her. Of course he wouldn't be able to get to know her, know her, but if she was willing that'd be the first thing they did when the clock struck twelve of her eighteenth birthday.

Fuck! What the hell was wrong with him? It was beyond wrong to be thinking about sexing up his urchin and yet he couldn't stop himself

"You're sure, right? I mean, whatever age you are won't change what I'd like to propose, but I think we should be somewhat open with each other, okay?" Paul asked to appease his sudden conscience.

At her small nod, he continued.

"So here's the deal," he said, not easing her tension at all. "I want you to know that I don't intend to hurt you, okay?"

Paul was ready to sign an oath in blood that he would never fucking hurt her. Fuck, he'd write the entire declaration in blood if it made her happy and allowed for trust!

Searching his words for any and all hidden meanings Bella couldn't believe her luck. She didn't immediately trust him, but he hadn't hurt her yet and…well… he fed her! That was the biggest bonus in her book. The only people who had fed her before had either told her they planned to use her, or had done so already, tossing scraps of food at her shamed stance. This Paul man had actually given her a full meal and apologized for not doing so earlier.

"In fact, if you want," the Paul man babbled, "you can stay here for however long you wish."

The words had no sooner left his mouth when the Paul man was scooting his chair closer to hers to suddenly grab her hands. Not roughly, but softly, allowing his fingers to gently squeeze her small hands before releasing them and letting his own cup hers.

"I can't explain it to you yet, but if you agreed to stay with me until the end of time, you'd make me a very happy wol-man."

He watched as she flinched and then tried to cover it up by wiping her chin against her shoulder, uneasy with his sudden bout of affection. He had no choice though, he had to let her know she could count on him and eventually love him.

_Probably sooner than eventually if he wanted to keep his wits_, the wolf reminded Paul.

"I swear the thing with today and no food is not going to ever fucking happen again, okay? If you need, or want anything just tell me and I'll get it for you," Paul pledged, hoping she'd really fucking do it and let him provide for her.

His urchin looked really scared and Paul couldn't help himself any longer. In one move, he had her in his lap, her heart beating quickly against his own steady tempo.

"I know we have to move slowly; hell we're practically strangers, but I need you to understand that I will be whatever you need. There's no pressure, or rush; whatever you want, I'll do it if I'm capable of it."

Bella missed what the Paul man had said, her heart beating erratically as she waited for the pain to start as soon as his arms were around her. She tried not to tense, knowing that any blows she'd receive would hurt more in doing so. Her body knew this too and slumped on its own. She could neither fight this Paul man, nor run away right now; he would easily catch her like this.

Paul didn't hit her, though, nor did he even know that's what his urchin was anticipating. He was too busy struggling with both his needs and the needs his wolf explained to him to just hold this precious gift and revel in the feel of her so close and safe. Softly he nuzzled her neck, pleased when she tilted her head to allow for more room to do so. If he let go of the wolf, he knew the activity would quickly rise to something more…

…Tender nipping, sucking and licking of other intimate and vulnerable areas.

He could imagine running his tongue along the base of her throat, soft sighs of contentment as he explored her neck and ears, searching for the pleasure points that would make his little urchin melt into his capable hands. Already she seemed to have relaxed and Paul couldn't help himself, his lips lightly attaching to the spot just beneath where her jaw bone met her neck, the unsteady rhythm of cardio system slowing into a sluggish state of unworried cadence.

The loud ring of his phone caused the growl to slip from Paul unexpectedly. He was kind of fucking busy at the moment and god help the dipshit who thought now was an ideal time for a social call.

When he pulled back to look in her eyes, she saw the desire from this Paul man and something…else? Whatever look he was giving her was certainly screaming something to do with sex, but there was more to it and Bella didn't know what it was. It may have soothed her body, but it frightened her mind and she wiggled slightly, relieved when the Paul man let her go and return to her own chair, hastily standing to grab his phone.

"Yeah," Paul barked into the receiver, wishing he had left the damn thing on silent...or in the jeep…or crushed under a rock somewhere, far, far, away so that he could go back to holding his girl.

"Paul? It's Sue. I was calling to see if your friend—Leah told me her name was Ariel- was still okay and if you needed me to come over and have another look."

"No, that's not a good idea at the moment. She's okay and we were just eating dinner. Can I call you later?"

"Paul…have you even checked the gash on her abdomen? The stuff I gave you will help some, but I wasn't kidding. It's a deep wound and if it is infected, you might not be able to tell until the source has grown outwards. By then, it could have spread to other internal areas and then we really won't have a choice and she'll need to be hospitalized."

Paul chanced a look at his girl. She was idly staring at her plate and occasionally poking at the rest of her sandwich.

"Sue, I know you mean well, but could you please stop scaring the shit out of me with your crazy talk of worst case scenarios? I appreciate your call, I really do. For now, though, I'm going to hang up, finish our dinner and then recheck her wound. If it even looks like there could be an incurable infection, I'll personally carry her over to your house myself and then the entire gang can bitch me out while we drive to the hospital. Have a good night; bye." Dropping the phone as carelessly as he had answered it, his attention turned back to his silent girl.

"Okay, Urchin, are you done eating?" Paul asked happily, feeling anything but.

She didn't look up when she nodded her head, but climbed off the chair to stand next to it, waiting for…Paul didn't have a fucking clue.

"Great! So…umm…have you thought about what I've said?"

-An affirmative nod.

"And you're willing…you want to stay here for awhile?"

-A less enthused affirmative nod, but a yes just the same.

Striding over to where she was, Paul tugged at her hand to lead her back to his room where he sat her on the edge of the bed before disappearing into his closet.

"I think we should be honest with each other. A friend told me you were outside today which would explain all of the new dirt you have on you. I'm not mad," he reassured his imprint, sticking his head out of the closet to study her expression.

"But it's late and we don't have enough time to make a run out to Port A to get you some things," Paul said before muttering to himself, "and I sure as hell don't need to see another pack mate tonight."

Giving up in hopes of finding anything even remotely small enough for her to change into he grabbed one of the few long sleeved shirts he owned, placing it on the end if his bed before opening his armoire.

"However, it'd be really fucking stupid of me to think you'd want to stay in that. So, I'm going to…there are those fuckers…I'm going to let you wear this stuff until we can figure what to do tomorrow," Paul announced, holding the pair of sweats he had been searching for and adding them to the shirt pile.

His little urchin did not look impressed, not that he could blame her. His clothing was fucking huge on chicks and while some of them thought they looked sexy to him wearing his shit, he personally thought they looked like anorexic camp victims.

"Go change and then I'll put some of that medicine on your stomach. Does it hurt?"

His urchin ignored his questions, quietly picking up the clothes he had set out and then shuffling towards his bathroom. She hesitated once inside of the darkened bathroom, her hand slowly closing the door as she watched his face. He wondered what she was waiting for.

The seconds clicked by painfully slow as Paul waited for her to turn the light on in there and begin to change. He heard the rustle of clothing but still the light remained off.

"Hey, Urchin, the light switch is on the wall closest to the door," he offered, thinking she just hadn't been able to find it. "Oh, and like I said, you can take a shower. I bet you feel kind of dirty, huh?"

Paul leaned back and tried to relax when he heard her finally flip the switch. There was a lot of shuffling and then the sound of running water. Knowing he probably had a lot of time—women took fucking forever in the bathroom—he took of his boots, socks and shirt, throwing them into a hamper and then padded out to the living room to grab urchin's medicinal goo.

Resuming his spot on the bed, Paul realized that the water was no longer running. Had his ass been lollygagging that long? He heard the light click off before the door opened, a head bowed urchin shuffling out and wearing the stuff he had offered.

She looked cleaner, but utterly fucking ridiculous with one hand clenching the waist of the sweats to hold them up and the other hand alternating between each leg to lift up as she tried to make it over to the bed. It was also kind of obvious she hadn't showered or bathed, not that Paul was about to say shit about it.

"Shit, Urchin, that crap just hangs off of you. Hold on," Paul said, leaving his room to go find a pair of scissors.

Shoving them in his back pocket, he came back into his room, lifted up the still shuffling imprint and placed her standing on the bed, away from him.

"Hold still. This will only take a minute," he muttered. Pulling some of the loose fabric away from her ankles, he snipped a hole, carefully inserting one side of the blades to trim of the excess crap.

"That's a little better, huh?" he asked, turning her around when he was finished and bringing her body downwards as he sat back on the bed, his imprint lying prone next to him.

"I'm going to check your stomach and put on some more goo. Then I'll go throw your other clothes in the wash. You're free to keep these, but I don't think we can make them fit enough to be comfortable," Paul explained, casually glancing at her as he pulled the shirt up and then did a double take.

Paul couldn't keep the anger from his voice. "What the fuck happened? This is really bad, Urchin."

It looked as though she had made an attempt to clean her stomach, but Paul could still see streaks of dirt and fresh blood lines. The gash itself had clotted, a noticeable swelling to the surrounding tissue and damn near glowing red with inflammation.

She didn't say anything, but stared directly at Paul, terror beginning to fill her eyes.

"Shit, Urchin, I'm not mad at you; I just don't want to have to take you to a doctor," Paul hastily explained, grabbing the medicine. "They're going to fucking know right away that this is a knife wound and then they'll expect you to answer their questions."

Looking back over the area, Paul could only shake his head. "Sit here while I go get a washcloth. I know you washed up, but I need to double clean it."

It was a moment like this that Paul wished he could just explain to his urchin that if he licked her, it would help clean up whatever infection she may or may not have. Saliva contained a lot of different antibacterial, antiviral and growth factors to help clean and grow new skin. In regular humans and animals, the chance of adding a secondary infection was high since saliva also contained some germs that were immune to the healing properties. Being a wolf eliminated that pesky problem.

With a few cleaning supplies, Paul returned to her side, studying the best way to accomplish fixing her. He carefully cleaned the wound first, working his way outwards away from it and leaning in close with the pretense of needing to 'see closer' what he was doing. He actually used the disguise to sniff the area for any signs of bacteria, trying not to sag like a fool when nothing obvious was present.

"Urchin, you need to be more careful, okay?" Paul advised when he was done rubbing the ointment in, his inner wolf practically lying on his back in joy over the ability to touch her in this manner.

_Best squash that shit, fast!_ Paul thought as he tugged her shirt back down. Grabbing the waist band of her sweats, he produced some safety pins he had found earlier in his bathroom desperation and worked to tighten the pants so they wouldn't fall down on her.

"Okay, we're done," Paul said, grabbing her hands to pull her up into a sitting position and noticing the earlier forgotten pill.

"Shit," he mumbled under his breath, grabbing the foiled package and turning to give his girl a sheepish smile. "I forgot. This is medicine to help make sure your scratches don't become infected."

Holding out the item, Paul waited for his urchin to accept it. When all she did was stare, he opened it himself, showing her the chalky tablet. "It's okay, just swallow it and we're really done."

His urchin looked like she certainly didn't want to swallow the pill. She stared at the fucking thing as if it were an L-pill; a type of disguised cyanide capsule spies used to carry. Paul kept his cheesy ass grin of encouragement plastered to his face until she did take it, grimacing the whole time as it moved towards her mouth and was eventually swallowed.

His damn wolf whined again, sending out the comforting thought of stroking her neck to help make it go down easier.

"That wasn't so bad, huh?" Paul asked when she looked back up to him. "What do you want to do now?"

Bella looked towards the bathroom where she had forgotten to put her coat back on. The Paul man had said he was going to wash her clothing and she worried he meant her jacket too. Not that it didn't need cleaning, but she hadn't thought about putting her other sandwich somewhere else.

"Right, your clothes. I'll go throw them in the wash now," he told her, heading into the bathroom.

Frozen, Bella watched as he grabbed the pitiful bundle, giving her a wink before he left and leaving Bella to panic some more. He might not want to check her pockets, but if he didn't and washed it with a sandwich, Bella was pretty sure it would leave an obvious mess and then she'd be in more trouble.

Scrambling off the really nice mattress, she tried to race after him, hoping he would give her a second chance for stealing the sandwich and not asking about the first one she still had.

He had almost disappeared into the closet when he turned around quickly to watch her skid to a hobbling stop.

"What's wrong?" He asked her, not sounding mad at all. Actually he kind of sounded…concerned? And was staring at her feet again.

Bella pointed to her clothes, hoping he'd just hand them back over.

"They're dirty, Urchin. I'm just going to wash them and then you can have them back, I promise," he explained.

Watching his face carefully, she took a hesitant step closer, ready to back away if he moved in an aggressive manor. It was eerie to Bella how patient he seemed, not at all like a person, but a lot like a demon. The closer she got, the more relaxed he looked. Finally in close enough range, she raised her arm slowly, grasping just a corner of her jacket and giving it a slight pull.

Bella had no idea that Paul immediately deduced what she was seeking and he decided to help her out without being obvious.

"Oh, you have something you need to take out?" he asked, still smiling. "Go ahead. I'm going to go downstairs, just toss it down and I'll throw it in last.

Clamping her mouth firmly shut at her good fortune, she waited until he had gone down the stairs before pulling out her treasures, wondering where the heck she could hide them. The Paul man had promised he was going to wash the jacket and she assumed that meant he would wait until she threw it down before he came back upstairs.

She knew the plastic that now held two sandwiches would protect her food from getting dirty and felt no hesitation, sneaking into the kitchen to stow it away in the cabinet she had slept in under the sink.

Leaning over the quickly filling washer, Paul closed his eyes and breathed deeply to center himself. Sooner or later, he knew he'd have to tell her she didn't have to hide shit from him. However, these little acts made her feel safe and he wouldn't take that away. His breathing deepened, the scent of her strongly emitting from around him; too strong, considering her clothes were emerged in water. Lifting his head, he realized that she must have been down here earlier in the day looking for something. He took a step around the machine to the wall behind it, the tiny window located closest to the washer not latched.

Ghosting his fingers around the edge of the window, Paul both marveled and damn near fucking cried when he realized this was how she had managed to leave. His mental calculations weren't wrong; a normal person would not have been able to fit through the opening but his urchin was well below normal and with enough incentive—like fucking hunger—she could have slid through without a single centimeter to spare.

When the soft swish of fabric hit the ground behind him, breaking him of his window thoughts, Paul threw it into the running wash, quickly returning back to his girl in hopes of more bonding time.

A/N: Kudos to my beta, Shadowpast620.


	12. Chapter 11

A/N: Kudos to my beta, Shadowpast620. Thanks to those of you who have reviewed.

Bunch more of boring stuff you are NOT required to read and is all jumbled: As I hope most of you are aware, this tale is a work of fiction. I am neither attempting to glorify nor downplay the severity of being homeless. I am also not SM for more reasons than I have time to write in ten lifetimes. ;) I seem to recall mentioning this fic will probably be around twenty chapters. Unfortunately my plot bunny is a rabid and wordy monster and that number is now wrong. No idea at this point but I have up to chapter 25 sketched out and I can't tell if I've hit halfway yet. If that scares you, think how Elmer must feel. :D Gained quite a few new readers last chapter and I'd love to hear from you. Having failed at spacetime continuum manipulation, I lack the ability to answer reviews, but your questions and observations help me keep the story on track. Okay, that's it for now. Enjoy the latest. :D

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><p>Bella woke up later than she had expected, but at least she knew where she was this time. Rolling over she froze when something extremely warm tightened around her waist.<p>

"A few more minutes," a deep voice mumbled above her head.

Trying not to eep in panic, Bella quickly looked down to make sure she was still wearing clothes, the too big shirt still on her, but just barely as it had shifted and was stuck under her hip. Somehow the blanket was encased on the side of her pressed against the couch, the fuzzy looking material a small comfort.

When the Paul man had come back upstairs after she had hidden her food last night, he said he wanted to talk some more and took her back to the couch, motioning for her to sit next to him. He had been sort of touchy, his hand either around hers or his hand stroking her head, occasionally her stomach, too, although he didn't do it often after she flinched when he brushed her sore.

He had asked why she had been shuffling and since he already said he knew she had been outside, Bella just looked towards the darkened window where she knew the forest was. He may have been okay in knowing she had been outside, but she didn't want to show him how she had gotten outside. Thankfully he didn't ask, but he had picked up her foot and tugged her sock off to look at her feet again; a peculiar behavior to Bella.

When he had placed his palm against the bottom, she couldn't stop the look of pleasure from crossing her face as the warmth was a welcomed presence. Nor could she stop herself from leaning back and relaxing when he rubbed certain spots that had felt really good until he found a bruise. The Paul man hadn't let go when she tried to jerk away in discomfort, but he did stop pressing there and just laid his palm back against it instead.

He had asked her so many questions, most of which she couldn't answer and the few that she could, she didn't know how to tell him. She quickly became flustered, worried that he was going to start hitting her when she didn't talk, but he hadn't.

Eventually he had turned on a TV, one Bella hadn't even noticed until the screen flickered to life, illuminating the room in funny colors and loud sounds. Watching a show about an ancient civilization, she had stared in fascination; so much so that she didn't even remember falling asleep.

_Oh, had it been a few minutes yet?_ Bella really needed to get up, but she didn't want to anger the Paul man.

"What's wrong?" his voice sleepily rasped again, his arms tightening around her and not helping at all.

When she didn't answer, he relaxed his grip and cautiously tapped her lightly on the shoulder indicating she should roll over. The look she gave him must have explained it all because he laughed and then unexpectedly lifted her up and over; Bella suddenly standing up right on the ground and him in a sitting position on the couch. By the time she came back to the living room a few minutes later, the Paul man was in the kitchen, her blanket neatly folded and on the couch.

"Do you want some coffee, or juice, or something?" He asked nicely, making Bella wander towards him in hesitation.

_Was he…was he going to feed her again; so soon and without payment? _

Bella didn't know what to make of this strange development. He had tried to feed her a lot last night, even giving her some of his own food right out of his hand! She had been scared to death that it was a trap, that when she leaned forward he would grab her hair and bang her head on the table. Instead, he'd offered her a second taste, even wanting to give his own bowl of soup to her. People didn't do nice things like share food with Underground people, at least not food they were still-

"Urchin, are you thirsty?" he repeated, startling her thoughts. He obviously was going to feed her, or at least give her something other than water to drink.

She watched him make a pot of coffee then froze in panic when she saw the spaghetti noodles she hadn't been able to make yesterday still soaking in a pot. When he picked up the pot, she lowered her eyes, knowing that was to be her breakfast. Food was food, though and she'd eat them when told to do so.

The unexpected noise of an electric tool scared her and Bella almost tripped backwards in her haste to get away.

"Shit, easy, Urchin. It's just the garbage disposal. Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," the Paul man told her, shutting off the noisy thing, wherever it was. "Here," he offered, pouring a glass of juice to hold out to her.

_The noodles were gone and he was still offering her something nice to drink…_ Bella couldn't keep up with his unexpected actions. She didn't want to make mistakes, but knew she had and needed him to tell her!

He smiled when she hesitantly took the glass from his hand, using both of hers to hold it securely. "What do you want for breakfast? Do you like pancakes?"

The glass was raised to her lips halfway when Bella froze, unsure as to what he meant. A pancake; was that food? It wasn't something she had ever eaten at one of the soup kitchens. She thought hard as to whether she liked pancakes or not. Truthfully, the word sounded familiar, but she couldn't put a picture to it and ended up shrugging.

That made the Paul man frown. "Do you want something else to eat?"

Shaking her head, she tried to smile that pancakes were okay so as not to anger him. He watched her for a minute before turning away to dig in a cabinet and bring out a pan causing Bella to take two steps back.

"I'll make the pancakes, Urchin, but you better eat them."

That didn't sound good at all; the words, not his tone. Maybe she didn't want pancakes after all, not if they were something really gross. She knew she couldn't be choosy here, but this was definitely a test. He knew what they were and had offered to make something else. Instead she had agreed without complaint, thinking her acceptance would be easiest.

_Had he known that? That he was offering something she should have enough sense to say no to?_ Taking a large sip of juice, Bella tried to keep the tears away. Crying wouldn't help her now and men didn't like to see her cry unless they were hurting her.

"Hey," the Paul man said softly, suddenly kneeling in front of her. "Are you okay?" He took her juice and sniffed it before taking a sip himself and wrinkling his nose. "I know it's not the best tasting stuff; I have no idea what the hell Jake was thinking of when he bought this crap."

Setting the glass aside, he stood up to pour some of the freshly brewed coffee into a mug and then handed it to Bella. "There's milk in the fridge and sugar over there," he said, pointing to a spot on the counter before going back to make breakfast. "We'll buy better juice when we go to the store."

Looking at the coffee and then the backside of the man who hadn't hurt her yet, she was helplessly confused now. The smart thing to do would be to load up the steaming beverage with sugar and did he say milk? She tried not to scrunch her nose at the thought. Creamer would be a preferred option for her frequent staple of survival.

However, as much as the coffee would warm her up, Bella wished he hadn't taken her juice. It wasn't as sweet as one would expect, but it still tasted good and Bella was worried that these pancakes things would be bad. She watched as he mixed some things in a bowl and then tipped the gooey mess onto a funny looking pan.

She didn't want to stare, but it was weird, watching the white mess begin to form small tiny bubbles. When the Paul man suddenly flipped them over, to reveal a rich goldenness on the other side, she gasped.

"It's great, huh? It used to take forever making these on the stove, but with the electric skillet, I can make 'em faster and more of them," he explained, not turning around to look at her. "I almost forgot I had it."

Bella continued to watch in awe when he took them off and then poured more of the mixture back onto the skillet, fully engrossed in making pancakes; a food Bella decided couldn't be that bad and wondered if she had ever found any in her previous hunts, her eyes accidentally shifting to her right.

Her juice was still sitting on the counter, and it was calling to her subtly. If he didn't look for a few seconds, she could just drink it and then hide the glass. He'd probably never even notice with so many dishes lying around the sink.

The coffee cup still clasped in her hands had to sit down in order to pick up the juice glass. It made a small clinking sound and she turned her head sharply towards the Paul man, hoping he wouldn't turn around and ask her what she was doing. When he didn't, she quickly picked up the juice, still watching his back and drinking it as fast as she could.

When it was all gone, she wondered where she should put it. Checking to make sure the Paul man still hadn't turned around, Bella looked for options. She was closest to the sink cabinet, but her food was down there and it'd be a bad thing if she got caught with both the empty glass and hidden food. To the right was another cabinet and it looked to be a good hiding spot for now; at least until she could figure out what cabinet the glass was supposed to go in.

"Hey, Urchin?" The Paul man's voice called to her, making Bella freeze in terror, her eyes snapping closed in front of the still open cabinet.

_Oh… she had been too greedy! If she'd just ignored the juice, he would've let her have coffee and pancakes. Now he was probably going to tell her no and might even find her other food._ She didn't even breath, waiting for the invariable punishment he was overdue to impose.

"Go ahead and take your coffee and mine into the dining room, please. I'll be right there with our plates and food, okay?"

Slowly peeling one eyelid open at a time, Bella couldn't believe he was still turned away and scooping the new batch of pancakes off of the thing he used to cook with. Silently she closed the cabinet and stood up; her fingers trembling slightly when she picked up both mugs and shuffled away to sit at the table.

When his urchin had left the kitchen, Paul tried not to sigh in frustration. _Why the hell had she drunk that shitty juice after he told her not to? And then hide the glass?_ He had watched her and had to force himself not to tell her to stop, afraid that anything he might have said then would cause her to drop the glass. He could've easily caught it, but then she'd wonder how he had been able to move so quickly.

Jesus, he never thought life could actually be easier after telling an imprint about his unusual furry side-effects. Sam wouldn't let him do that yet, though. Not until they were able to determine something about her…mainly her age.

Out on patrol last night, Sam had joined Paul to help cut the time down so he could return to his sleeping urchin. Like Paul, it was perfectly acceptable that she was eighteen, but there were enough doubts to say it might not be all that they wished.

Likewise, Sam had been frustrated at Urchin's inability to communicate. When asked if she could read or write, she had looked so goddamn terrified, her hesitant 'no' almost making Paul forget all about the answers he wanted. Thank fuck Sam hadn't enforced his Alpha bullshit and told Paul to keep pushing for answers. They had both decided to take what they could and not push unless it meant imminent danger to her or the tribe. It wasn't like Paul was completely fucking miserable. He felt damn proud of himself for being able to give his little urchin a warm breakfast, even if she didn't like it.

Pushing those thoughts aside, he genuinely smiled as went to sit next to her, giving them each an empty plate and then stacking the bundle of pancakes in between them. Paul couldn't fucking wait until they reached the phase in their relationship to eat off of the same plate.

"How many do you want?" He asked his girl, spearing three of the five inch round cakes onto the end of a fork, leaving seven for himself.

She stared at the end of his fork like it was fucking trap, or he was getting ready to stab her with it, making Paul inadvertently pull back slightly and causing his girl to sit up higher, holding out two quivering, bunny eared fingers.

"Only two?" _An equally hesitant nod of the head._ "Okay, but I'm not a bad cook; not chef worthy or any of that shit, but I can make pancakes," Paul explained as he dropped two of them onto her plate, deciding he was still going to save her a third one.

"Sorry, all I have is syrup for now, "Paul continued, piling four pancakes onto his plate before pushing the glass jar of real maple syrup towards her first. "Jake didn't buy any whip cream or fruit that would taste good on these unless…did you want bananas?" This time it took her a full minute to indicate no, his hand hovering over her plate with syrup aimed to pour.

_Damn it! She probably did want a banana and Paul was willing to go get it, but then she'd freak and…_

_Fuck it! She'd be okay with syrup this morning and next time, he'd just surprise her with sliced bananas, sprinkled with chopped pecans._

Totally fucking grinning over the thought of a next time, he doused her cakes with a liberal amount of syrup, waiting until the top pancake was entirely drenched.

"There you go; eat up," Paul exclaimed happily, pouring twice as much syrup on his plate and heartily digging in.

He told himself he wasn't going to fuck this meal up and let her eat in peace without a shit ton of stupid questions. Instead, he decided to tell her what he had planned.

"So, Urchin…" trailing off, Paul watched her watching him, or more specifically his fork. Her own silverware was lying untouched next to the plate; his urchin's fingers slowly drawling away from where she had been about to grab a pancake.

Being a wolf meant he could shovel food into his mouth fast. He had no idea that his urchin had been attempting to use a similar tactic; her fingers allowing her to grab the food quickly before it was taken away. She stared at him with sad eyes and Paul didn't know what the fuck to do, both his train of thought and appetite disappearing.

"Umm, yeah, like I was saying," he started again, dropping his eyes to his own food so she could do whatever she wanted to. "I figure today we'll go get you a bed of your own, so you don't have to sleep on the couch."

Still not looking up, he ate a few more huge servings, his ears finally picking up the small sounds of her attempts to eat followed by rapid swallowing of coffee.

"We can drive out to the city and then…Shit! That won't work." Pausing mid-bite, Paul tried to think if any of the pack had a camper top on their trucks. "I could probably tie it to the jeep top, but it's supposed to really fucking come down in buckets later today and for the rest of the week and I don't want to have to worry about a time frame, or a tarp coming loose."

Shrugging, he finally looked back up to his urchin, noticing that she had stopped eating and was leaning back in her chair.

"We'll figure it out," he assured her with her a smile before frowning. "Are you done?"

Her plate still held a full pancake and most of the first one, maybe only a half of it eaten. Sitting back up, she fumbled to pick up her unused fork. With worried eyes focused on him, she made a mess with the fork, hacking the pancake into shreds before trying to eat some more; tiny fucking bites the size of peas.

"I'm not trying to rush you," Paul explained, taking another stack for himself. "It's just not a lot of food and I figured you'd want more."

Inching her fork down, his urchin half smiled, relaxing back into her seat, but watching him carefully for something. When he was finally done, he finished his coffee and then cleared the table, asking one more time if she was done before taking the dishes to dump in the sink.

"Alright, I'm going to get cleaned up. Did you want to take a shower?" Paul called out to his girl still sitting in the dining room.

Her eyes nearly took up her whole face in fear, a faint clicking of wood against wood indicating she was trembling in her chair. The noise sounded loud to Paul's delicate hearing and he advanced towards her in concern frantically lifting her up to cuddle…

_Not fucking cuddling!_ His mind screamed, _Comforting!_

He sat down heavily in her chair, still holding the scared shitless girl in his arms as he ran his own hand over her forehead—still kind of cold—down her arms and scratched hands—nothing unordinary there—and then finally lifting her shirt slightly to stare at her stomach wound.

It was far from healed, but looked ten times better than it had last night when Paul had reapplied the ointment. His fucking Alpha had scared the shit out of him, commenting as they were headed home that it was a good thing his urchin hadn't been allergic to the antibiotics he had given her. Paul barely remembered to throw his pants back on before silently charging into his house and studying his girl sprawled out on the couch.

Her breathing was normal, her color still wan and waxy, but not grey and she still felt cool to him. He wasn't trying to be a psycho when he got the sudden urge to lift her shirt and stare at the knife gash; thoughts of how she could even receive something like that sending his wolf in a tailspin. On his knees, next to the couch, he had leaned over the delicate area and sniffed carefully, all the while keeping an ear tuned for the possibility of her waking.

His urchin didn't awaken then, but after sleeping for several hours on the couch earlier, he had watched how she slept; a deep and heavy slumber for about an hour and then an abrupt, half awakening. It wasn't an even sleep his urchin took, those half awakenings leaving her eyes closed, but her mind somewhat aware, processing the atmosphere around for signs of danger.

He had been engrossed in the TV the first time it happened and he damn near launched off the couch in a panic, wondering what it was that she felt and he couldn't. When there was nothing to be found and her body hadn't tensed, Paul allowed himself to relax, wanting to stroke her feet for reassurance, but afraid it would awaken her fully. By the third cycle of this unusual sleep pattern, Paul realized that if he placed his hand on her while in deep sleep, her half awakenings didn't last as long.

_Fuck! Would he be considered an asshole if he insisted she just slept in his bed with him?_

Bringing himself back to the present with a still trembling urchin, Paul was relieved to see that the knife wound had benefited greatly from his wolf side. He had gone ahead and done what he wanted to from the beginning; gently cleaning it naturally and soothing the raging monster of a wolf trying to tear out of his skin and take care of shit properly.

"Urchin, what's wrong? Does something hurt?" Paul asked finally, unable to figure out why she was panicking.

As usual, she didn't say anything, her head tucked under his chin as they rocked gently back and forth, Paul trying to figure out why she had been fine one minute and then completely terrified the next. He couldn't understand what she was thinking and not knowing anything from her past other than she was homeless made the whole experience a lot like trying to put a puzzle together blind.

Morning turned into early afternoon and Paul thought she might have fallen into another half awake/half asleep state. He stood up to take her into his room and let her rest on his bed while he took a shower. If need be, his urchin could stay here and sleep while he took care of acquiring a bed for her.

She automatically curled into a ball once her body touched the mattress, her frame shifting away from Paul so that he couldn't see her face. As quietly as he could, he gathered some regular clothes and then disappeared into the bathroom, keeping both ears trained on to any sounds she might make.

_Just temporarily_, Paul thought, soothing both him and the wolf at the idea of having to buy a second bed. He didn't want his girl to feel like a fucking unwanted guest and be made to sleep on a couch night after night. He also couldn't very fucking well offer his bed to her, the whole idea screaming serial killer to him. It was perfectly rational to buy an extra bed for her to use. Hell, he even had an empty room to accommodate it.

Getting new clothes for his girl was a priority as well, but after her latest zombie mood swing, he felt it was best to stay home for the day. He didn't know how long it would take for her to be okay and wanted to be close to home, if not in his damn home, if she zoned out again.

Twenty minutes later, a billow of steam floated out of the bathroom as Paul exited. Even with an exhaust fan on the room held temperature like a damn cryogenic freezer, making Paul wish he had fucking thought to put in windows that would actually open. His girl was sitting up in the bed looking at him blankly when he made his appearance.

"Hey, Urchin," Paul practically whispered in happiness. She didn't look as scared as before and he was relieved. "Are you feeling better?"

She nodded that she was okay and Paul debated with himself. He didn't want to push her about whatever had triggered the earlier event. If she needed to freak for a few minutes and then sleep it off, he could handle that.

"I'm going to go grab your stuff from downstairs and then you're free to get cleaned up, okay? I'll be right back." With his towel thrown over his shoulder, Paul hurried to fetch her things, trying not to moan in grief when the pants he pulled from the dryer should be considered a casualty. The shirts and jacket had survived, but they still looked like shit and he fucking knew his ass had best buy some clothes before she was forced to be naked. Discarding his towel into a hamper, he flew back upstairs, slowing down right outside of his bedroom door so as to appear normal.

"Is there anything else you need?" Paul asked, setting the things down next to her and then backing away while she shook her head. She was answering him, but still looked scared shitless. "I'll be in the living room when you're done; just come out whenever, okay?"

Closing the bedroom door, Paul went to slump on the couch, feeling like a retard at the way he was talking to his imprint. He never realized how hard it was to communicate with a person who only nodded without adding an 'okay' at the end of everything he said. It bothered him more than he cared to admit; the action making him feel like he thought she was dumb!

_What if she is dumb?_ Some evil inner fucker asked, neither Paul, nor his wolf fucking appreciating it very much. The voice didn't stop, though, bombarding Paul's mind with the scenes of his urchin's poor attempts at washing, or her lack of using utensils.

_She is not dumb!_ Paul screamed mentally, replaying the scenes of the tree; her ability to climb out of the basement window; her attempt at cunningly trying to hide food—which, if he wasn't a fucking wolf, he probably would've missed.

_Why doesn't she speak? There's no indication of past or present throat injuries_, the ghastly voice asked Paul's subconscious causing him to stand up and pace.

People talked every damn day and yet Paul couldn't even remember if she had even muttered a sound close to resembling a word. He had heard her sigh, moan and make some type of weird squeaky noise when she was really fucking scared; other than that, there wasn't anything in the way of a language. Wouldn't she have said something by now if she spoke?

Pacing his way into the kitchen, Paul started to load the dishwasher while still thinking about the no speaking thing. _How was he supposed to communicate with her; let her tell him what she wanted, needed, or desired if she couldn't talk or write?_ He still didn't know her name and while she seemed okay with being called "Urchin" and it fit her, it'd be a lot nicer if he knew her real name.

_Was it even possible to suggest they learn sign language together so he could have a fucking clue once in awhile?_ If some bitch had asked him to learn sign language because he knew what she was saying, but couldn't respond in kind, he'd be fucking offended all to hell and back.

Sue had mentioned his urchin being around nasty germs and shit. _Had become really ill and lost the_ _ability to speak? What if some evil fucking street hustler had punched her in the throat and broke her vocal chords or some shit?_ Paul tried really hard not to slam the remaining dishes into the racks as he pondered over the last two possibilities. Once again, his mate probably hadn't had any protection and would end up paying for it for the rest of her life.

Twenty minutes later when the urchin made her appearance, Paul didn't know he had subconsciously made the decision to be the redemption his urchin desperately needed in life.

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><p>The screen door opened, a man in a wheel chair rolling out on the porch to watch as Paul helped a girl out of the other side of his jeep. The handicapped man gaped silently when the jeep door was finally closed and the large Quileute Native began to herd a small figure towards the house, careful not to actually touch her, but just barely.<p>

Paul could feel the older man's eyes on them and he looked up to meet the stare, his own clearly stating that the man would be wise to tread discreetly.

"Hello, Billy," Paul finally greeted him, waiting until his urchin had taken the first two porch steps before he climbed up behind her.

"It's been awhile since I've seen you, Paul," Billy said, his signature smile flashing brightly. "Something I can do for you?"

"Actually, yeah," Paul said, trying not to sound as hesitant as he suddenly fucking felt like. "Jake mentioned last month that you were considering remodeling and turning your three bedrooms into two for more space."

"We did discuss it, yes," Billy answered slowly, unsure as to what Paul was getting at. "There haven't been any definitive plans made, though."

"Relax, old man. I'm not trying to pan handle a job," Paul joked and then bit his tongue hard. _Of all the fuckwitted things to say…_"I was wondering if I could possibly buy one of the beds from you. I'd drive to Port A and pick one up, but I just have the jeep and I doubt I'd make it back here before the storms start," he hastened to explain, a low rumble of thunder in the distance signifying the truth to his statement.

Billy's eyes were glued to the quiet girl staring at her feet. He didn't know who she was, but he definitely knew what she was; an imprint. "Whatever you want, Paul," he offered, backing up to open the screen door again. "Come on in."

Directing his urchin into Billy's living room, Paul pushed her into a chair, whispering that he'd be right back and to just wait a minute.

Billy continued further into the house to the bedrooms, flipping the lights on in Jacob's old room and then went across the hall to do the same for his daughters who had left home several years ago. Neither of the girls had ever expressed an interest in returning home, but Billy had been hesitant to ever do anything with what had been left behind. His youngest, Jacob, had insisted that Billy move in with him and his wife, but Billy liked his house. He had bought it as soon as he had saved enough for the down payment and while his life had drastically altered with his handicap and wife's death he had paid the mortgage off some seven or eight years ago, leaving him the pleasant feeling of being able to accomplish something.

"There you go, Paul; Jake's old bed is to the right and the girls' are to the left," Billy pointed out, watching as Paul stuck his head into Jake's room for all five seconds before detouring suddenly into the girls' room.

"None of them are very nice, but Jake's is bigger; it being a full and all," Billy offered helpfully when Paul looked indecisively between the set of twin beds.

"I will not have her sleeping in another wolf's bed," Paul grumbled.

"It's true then; this is your mate?" Billy asked cautiously, masking his happiness. If any wolf needed an imprint, Paul did.

"She is."

Thoughtfully, Billy stared off into space. Paul certainly had the symptoms of being imprinted, carefully seeing to the girl's comfort before coming to the rooms. His answers were short, though, not the usual gushing of happiness from a wolf. Maybe something was wrong.

"She's a lot smaller than the other imprints," Billy finally commented as the wolf continued to look back and forth between the beds.

Paul slowly turned his head to stare at Billy, the beds forgotten. "And? Does that make her defective somehow?"

"Of course not! I'm simply speaking from the view point of an Elder who knows of the bonding but not the true reason or meaning behind it. Only you would be able to say if you felt she was defective somehow."

"She's fucking fine and I'm keeping her as is," Paul gritted out through clenched teeth, failing to understand what the hell it was to Billy Black if his imprint was smaller than the other girls. He decided to ignore the crazy old man and walked over to the closest bed, sitting down to test for comfort.

"Don't you have a large bed already?" Billy asked curiously, satisfied with Paul's previous answer. "Far be it for me to promote promiscuity, but why do you require another one?"

"Have you seen her, Billy? She's not ready to share a bed with me; hell, I just managed to convince her to share a house with me. Had I even considered the possibility of finally finding my true mate, I would've already had a room prepared for her."

It was a ridiculous notion, the idea of having a room prepared for his girl. Fuck, what the hell was the point in that? Paul wouldn't have known what she'd need or even what kind of shit she liked. Forty eight hours later and he still didn't know her name. His fingers clawed the mattress in frustration.

Billy felt sorry the man who was used to getting anything he wanted from females. He felt sorrier still for the small girl who had to cope with her wolf. "I'm not trying to upset you, Paul, but even my own son has confessed how difficult the first few months are with an imprint and the need for constant contact while they are slumbering. Why didn't you just simply let her have your room and then join her later?"

"Because, it's kind of fucking creepy watching a person sleep or even thinking someone is watching you sleep," Paul answered truthfully, thinking how fucking morose it would be to wake up staring into the face of someone you barely knew; past fuck-buddies the one exception.

"Where did you sleep last night then?" Billy asked with a knowing eye gleam.

Paul slammed his damn mouth shut before he could lie; Billy, the nosey fucker, was right, damn it!

"I didn't sleep next to her the first night," Paul commented sullenly.

"And you probably paid for it," Billy gloated slightly, leaning back in his chair. "Jacob complained every day for the first month after he imprinted, whining about how uncomfortable it was to sleep in need underneath Nadine's window."

_Yeah, well Jacob was an annoying bitch like that_, Paul almost said before realizing that if the circumstances had been different, he very well could've had a worse experience, sleeping in a fucking sewer.

"Tell me," Billy asked with a know-it-all smirk, "did you not even check on her once?"

Paul knew he could sleep like the dead at night, especially when his fucking cell started to chirp; if it was that fucking much of an emergency, they better contact his ass via Wolf-Bell. That first night, however, he had easily retrieved the phone, his eyes fixed solely on his urchin as soon as he had hit the living room and not leaving until he had returned to his room to ream out the asshole—in that instance, his Alpha—who dared to call so goddamn early in the morning.

"Well, I'm already here," Paul huffed, tired of the conversation and refusing to answer the old-bat. "And I told her she'd be getting a bed. It'd looking really fucking odd if I reneged on my deal."

"That it would," Billy agreed with a mischievous smile. "Have you decided which mattress is worthy of your mate?" Rolling over to the other bed, he pushed up and down on the bed in exaggeration.

"Ha ha, old man, real fucking funny. I'll take Rebecca's; it's the least offensive at the moment," Paul answered, sliding the mattress to the side and easily hoisting the box spring. "I'm going to go outside and set up the roping before I come back to grab the other one. Is it okay if my girl just waits inside?"

Nodding in acceptance, Billy turned to wheel himself back out to join Paul's imprint, eager to meet the woman who had captured the soul of the most aggressive wolf in the pack.

Paul set the box spring on the porch, jogging over to his jeep to grab some tarp, duct tape and rope he had known he would need and had thrown into the backseat. It didn't take long to wrap the mattresses, secure them to the front and rear hitches and then again to each other to help prevent movement. Had he been alone, he would've just thrown the bitches on to the roof and extended his arm out the window to hold tight. His little urchin was with him, though, and she'd get cold with the window open or might require his attention for something.

Another low rumble of thunder echoed across the sky, reminding Paul they didn't have much time before it rained. Giving one last tug to the ropes, he went to retrieve his girl.

"Alright, Billy, I got them secured and we should probably go. How much do I owe you?" Paul asked, digging his wallet out of his back pocket as he walked into the Black's living room.

"Don't be silly, Paul," Billy responded waving off the wolf's offer. "As you said, my son and I were talking about remodeling and I had no plans to keep them once it began. Eventually I'll get rid of the others and replace it with a queen sized bed in case either of my daughters comes home for a visit."

Paul knew Billy Black was a proud man and wouldn't accept any type of money for a pack-related need. He also knew his own damn pride wouldn't accept the gesture without monetary compensation and withdrew two twenties and a ten to leave on a bookcase closest to where he was standing.

"Is she feeling okay, Paul? I introduced myself but she hasn't spoken?" Billy asked, startling Paul as he tried to inconspicuously return his wallet.

"Oh…umm…yeah…well, she doesn't talk much and hasn't actually told me her name," Paul explained embarrassedly when his urchin suddenly looked up to stare at him. "It's okay, though. We're good with calling her Arial until she feels comfortable enough to talk to us."

Shrewdly Billy stared back and forth between the girl with a blank expression and Paul, who looked out of his place in the lie.

"She doesn't look like an Arial," Billy commented daringly, trying not to snicker when Paul gave him an evil look. "In fact, she sort of looks familiar to me…where did you say she was from?"

"I didn't and you couldn't possible know Arial. She grew up in Seattle."

"Hmm," Billy sounded, still staring at the petite, ill groomed figure. "I could've sworn she reminded me of someone…"

Anxiously, Paul licked his lips, wondering if this might be a break in their favor. Could it be possible and Billy really did recognize her from the past? He didn't know if he wanted to push the issue right now and have it blow up unexpectedly in his face, although knowing her real name would be real fucking nice…

"Oh well!" Billy replied jubilantly as another boom of thunder filled the house. "If it was important, I'm sure it would've come to me. It was nice meeting you, Arial, and I look forward to seeing you guys again."

"Yeah, thanks, Billy," Paul returned before leaning over to whisper to his girl and hold her hand for balance. "Come on, Urchin, we're all set."

Paul had no sooner shut his front door with both mattresses safely inside when the sky opened up and the rain came down in torrents, lashing steadily at the windows.

"Wow, we were pretty fucking lucky, Urchin. I'm going to go set this up in the other room for you; do you want to come in there and show me where you want the bed?" Paul asked as he once again easily hoisted both mattresses before deciding he'd best do that shit one at a time before he accidentally banged into a wall or scared his girl.

When he came back to grab the other one, she slowly rose up from the couch to trail behind, her heart rate picking up slightly as she entered what would soon be her room.

"Do you want it here, under the window?"

Short and quick she shook her head. Then with scared eyes, pointed to a corner, far away from the window.

"Yeah, we can put it there," Paul answered easily, relieved that she was at least participating. Once in place, he smiled, realizing that if Billy had been right and his sometimes furry ass needed to be close to his little urchin at night, he could easily enter and sleep on the floor next to her.

"Shit!" Paul yelled unexpectedly, causing the girl to visibly flinch and back away from him. "I forgot to ask Billy if he had any sheets that would fit. I'll have to go grab some that are meant for my bed. They'll be large as fuck, but when we go shopping, I'll grab some smaller sets, okay?" With another smile, he left to go retrieve a clean, king sized set from the linen closest, listening to the shuffling of her feet as she went back to the living room.

_Damn it! Was she disappointed he hadn't remembered to ask for some?_ Trying not to beat the shit out a pillow at his carelessness, Paul grabbed one of the huge ass feathered monstrosities from his own bed before returning to her room, surprised to find that his urchin had returned as well, clutching her blanket.

"Good idea." Paul rambled as he started to dress the bed, trying to fold enough of the excess sheet under the mattress to make the bottom tight and not pull up if she should move too much or get up and fucking trip. "I also grabbed you a different pillow. Sorry I didn't think of that earlier; that couch throw pillow must have felt like a damn rock."

When it was as good as he could get it, Paul turned to face her. "You want me to add the blanket now?"

Her face kind of dropped and slowly she offered it to him, her eyes staring at the ground when he moved to get the blanket. Studying the material without actually touching it, another nasty thought bloomed wildly.

"Is it not good enough?" He asked unthinkingly and frowning.

That blanket had shit to offer in the way of warmth and she must have been hoping he'd give her a better one. His neglected imprint needed so damn much! Paul needed to sit his ass down and actually make a list before he forgot something that seemed common to most, but that his girl required to live like food and heat.

Startled to shit when the blanket hit the floor and she backed away, Paul swooped in to retrieve and hurriedly throw it on the bed before grabbing his urchin around the waist.

"I'm sorry, Urchin; it's the only one I have," Paul crooned softly, turning the upset girl to hug. "Shit, let me turn the heat up, or if you want, we can still go out to town?" he offered as a last resort.

God, he felt like a first class asshole. He couldn't seem to do anything right for this helpless creature. His own childhood had been harder than most and often he had been denied the comfort of hugs. It probably wouldn't solve anything with his urchin, but until she communicated for anything it was all he had to give and Paul did so freely, his arms secured around her form to offer an emotion.

He had no idea what was going on in her head, his arms locked securely to offer warmth of many levels. She was stiff and unaggressive, pressed to Paul's body; the wolf once again muttering apologies and promises to make it up to her.

When his girl placed both of her hands tentatively on his chest, Paul thought his ass was about to fucking swoon in delight at the contact, his vocabulary halting midsentence. He just stared down at her with a loopy smile as she shook her head and stepped back, her hands still pressed lightly to him. He finally regained his goddamn senses when she broke away and gave him a hesitant twitch of something close to a smile before looking down again.

"If you're sure?" He asked again, still feeling blissfully high as a fucking kite. "It's raining like a bitch, but we can go if you want to."

Instead of answering, she went to the bed and laid down, curling up into a ball like a tiny puppy.

"Okay," Paul whispered happily. "I'll leave you be to take a nap and come wake you for lunch." Closing the door quietly, Paul tried to shake off the happy giddiness shit clouding his head so he could start a list.

Grabbing a notepad and pen, he sat at the dining room table, idly sketching as he thought about his happy little urchin. As the haze lifted, he stared down at the shapes littering the edges, growling in distress.

Paul Lahote did not fucking doodle hearts!


	13. Chapter 12

A/N: Thanks to my beta, ShadowPast620. Wolfy hugs and kisses to my reviewers. Every time I feel like walking away from this fic, your replies make me smile and remind me what makes posting worth it. :)

This chapter is almost twice as long as my norm. *whispers* Don't expect it to happen often. It's my B-day weekend and I plan to spend it in a happy, alcohol induced coma, so next update might take longer. LOL, anyone want to volunteer as my DD? ;D

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><p>Wiping his feet methodically against the door mat, Embry quietly entered his house, his senses assaulted by the tantalizing promise of another home-cooked meal from his imprint, Emily.<p>

"Em, I'm home," he called out in greeting, his nose and wolf senses directing him to the kitchen where his imprint was stirring something in a crock pot.

"Hi," Emily returned excitedly when her husband stepped up behind her to place a gentle kiss on the back of her neck. "Dinner is almost ready, how does this taste?" Using the spoon she had been stirring with, Emily scooped up some of the concoction, turning around to hand feed her wolf.

"Oh my god," Embry exclaimed, his eyes almost rolling into the back of his head as the salty sweet substance coated his taste buds. "That is fantastic. Is this a new recipe?"

"Uh huh. I wanted to try it at home first before making it for the next wolf gathering." Giggling, Emily leaned forward to deliver a kiss Embry's clothed chest as he relished in the taste of her and her food.

Licking his lips, Embry leaned down to return a proper kiss to his mate's lips before ushering her to the closest chair.

"Honey, we talked about this. You are five months pregnant and shouldn't be experimenting in the kitchen; especially when it means you have to stand on your feet for extended amounts of time."

"Hush, Embry," she chastised her husband, the man carefully pulling another chair closer to prop her legs on. "This one isn't that big of a strain on me. I sat on a stool when I poured all of the ingredients inside of the crock pots and then returned to the couch to rest, knowing you would fret and worry."

"I can't help it," he explained as he slipped off her socks—safety grip lined, he noted approvingly—before rubbing the slightly swollen ankles. "There are so many things that could happen when I'm not here and I worry."

"Embry, the doctor said everything is perfect; he's never seen a healthier pregnancy. Stop worrying before your hair turns grey." Playfully she ran her hands through his hair, the silky black locks very similar to her own.

"Right," He sighed in happiness, letting his girl soothe all of his inner turmoil away with simple touches.

"Don't fall asleep on me," Emily teased a few minutes later when Embry's head leaned gently against her shoulder, his foot rubbing stopping completely. "Dinner's almost ready."

As expected, the announcement of food caused the wolf to immediately sit up in rapt attention. "You stay here; I'll get it," he offered, standing up to unplug the crock pot and bring it to the table before grabbing everything else to accompany dinner.

Once dinner was over—homemade barbeque shredded chicken—Embry didn't complain when his wife wrapped up the leftovers while he loaded the dishwasher, knowing he couldn't let her feel completely helpless just because she was pregnant. When the kitchen was cleaned to his imprint's approval, they went to watch some TV and relax; Embry holding her tightly on his lap in the large recliner.

"Damn it," he muttered softly when the phone rang twenty minutes later.

"I can answer the phone, honey," Emily called out petulantly when Embry sat her in the chair alone to get the call.

"Hush, Em; I need the exercise," he joked as he picked up the receiver. "Hello?"

"Embry, it's Sam," the Alpha's voice flowed calmly through the receiver. "Are you busy?"

Embry's eyes sought out his girl trying to get comfortable in the recliner. "Um, not terribly busy; Emily and I were just watching some TV."

"I'm sorry to interrupt you, but I'd like to ask a favor," Sam requested a bit tensely, his calmness a thing of the past.

"Of course," Embry agreed without hesitation.

"I'd like it if you could go over to Paul's and check on him and his imprint. Leah is tearing me a new one about wanting to visit and I don't want to say no, but I promised Paul I wouldn't crowd in on him. I just want to make sure there aren't any obvious problems before I agree to let my girl head that way."

Suddenly Embry wished he hadn't readily agreed to helping out Sam without asking questions first. "What kind of problems?" He asked his Alpha with equal tension, but way more hesitation. Paul problems always started in disaster and usually ended the same way. Or with someone dead.

"Nothing serious," came the obviously lying nonchalance of the Alpha. "If they've finally connected, or are on a quick path in doing so, I don't want Leah to go barging in there."

"Yeah, but if I go, won't it be the same thing?" Embry asked bluntly, not buying Sam's explanation at all.

"No. If you go, you'll be able to assess the vibes in less than a minute and know if you should leave or not."

Catching sight of his imprint finally comfortable and laughing softly to whatever was on the TV, Embry didn't want to go anywhere at the moment.

"Why me and not Jared?" He tried to cajole Sam in a last ditch effort. "He's Paul's closest friend."

"Because Paul's imprint tried to rob Jared and if he suddenly shows up, any progress being made could back track. Besides, out of all of us, you're probably the least intimidating."

"Gee, thanks, Alpha. Glad to know I'm the pansy one of the ferocious."

"I didn't mean it that way and you know it, Call. Brady, Collin and Seth are also less intimidating, but Leah would torture her brother for information if she even thought I had sent him over and Brady and Collin are extremely talkative. It's just easier if you could this for me."

Embry could run over, sit and chat for two minutes—assuming there was no screaming or grunting coming from the house—and then be comfortably back with Emily before the next show came on.

"Okay, Sam, I'll go run by now. If you don't hear back from me, just send Leah over. It'll be fine." Saying a quick goodbye, Embry hung the phone back up.

"What's going on?" Emily asked when her wolf finally came back into the living room with a funny look on his face.

"That was Sam. He needs me to run by Paul's house and do a check in."

"That's perfect!" Emily exclaimed in delight, clapping her hands excitedly and making Embry worry.

Suddenly, Embry was just as leery of his imprint as he had been of Sam. "Why?"

"Because, I made two crock pots of that barbecued chicken. I was going to ask if you'd mind running it over there later for Paul." Scooting forward, Emily tried to get out of the chair, causing Embry to rush to her side in assistance.

"Honey, that's sweet and all," Embry half-heartedly agreed, pulling his imprint out of the chair to stand, "but I don't think it's a good idea."

Walking back to the kitchen, Emily dropped her hands to her lower back, signaling for Embry to do the same so he could massage. "Of course it is. It's had enough time to cool off and I can pour it into a Tupperware container for you to take it with you."

"How could you have possibly even known about Paul's…uhh…imprint troubles?" Embry asked, stepping forward to tilt the crock pot so Emily could spoon the cooled chicken into a dish she had pulled off a shelf.

"Naddy called me after her trip to the grocery store yesterday. Originally I was going to make the second batch for her and Jake, but she said they were going out on some type of nature date and that she wouldn't need it. It was late anyways so I didn't make it yesterday but today I just knew I had to make it and that you'd be more than happy to take it over, maybe even let me tag along…"

Trailing off at Embry's look of disbelief she decided she didn't really need to tag along with her man. "Plus, it's a nice gift; it'll show Paul's girl how welcoming we are and accepting of her life with us," Emily explained happily, giving her wolf a kiss when he put the dirty dish in the sink and grudgingly accepted the dish to take with him.

"I'm going to run this over, do Sam his favor and then when I get back, we need to talk about your attempts at manipulation," he scolded gently, leaning over to give his laughing girl a kiss goodbye.

Embry tried not to grumble to himself as he climbed the steps to the front door of Paul's house. He, like the rest of the pack, felt bad that his imprint hadn't had the greatest life. She would still probably have trouble living being Paul's imprint and while they all realized she'd need as much help and support as she could get from the rest of them, she had to connect with Paul first.

"What are you doing?" Embry asked in surprise when he heard the sound of a drill on the door. The door knob promptly fell off and hit the ground, the front door swinging open to reveal an equally surprised Paul.

"I'm building a skyscraper," came Paul's smart ass answer once he recognized Embry. Without saying another word to his company, he produced a new door knob and locking mechanism to replace the fallen one and started drilling again.

"Yeah, it shows," Embry said once the door had opened again to allow him entrance. "Here." Thrusting the plastic container at Paul, he waited for the wolf to take it.

"What the fuck is that?"

"A damn elevator for your skyscraper," Embry mocked, rolling his eyes. "Emily made it as a welcoming gesture for your girl; it's free grub and damn good."

"You know where the fucking kitchen is, put it away. I'm kinda busy," Paul snapped in his usual manner. He knew loud noises bothered his urchin and he wanted to get this shit done so he could go back to being in her presence.

Sighing, Embry stepped around Paul to go in the house and put the food away. He was pleasantly surprised to see the kitchen actually clean and dish free, making him wonder if it was the imprint's doing. He still wasn't sure how those two were progressing, and tried not to frown at the thought of maybe having to stay for longer than two minutes. Opening the fridge, he shoved the container on the first available shelf before shutting the door and heading to the living room where a lingering odor made him grimace.

"Damn Paul, she kinda stinks," Embry greeted Paul when he came back from his lock changing task.

Glaring at the wolf making snide comments about his girl, Paul plopped down onto the couch, wondering if she'd stay hidden long enough for him to just throw Embry's unwelcomed ass outside. While not happy to hear someone else comment about his imprint, he sort of agreed. Still, she wasn't gag worthy offensive and if Embry wasn't such a goddamn oversensitive pansy wolf, it wouldn't be a comment worthy issue.

"I know," Paul finally answered testily. "I told her she could take a shower, or bath, or something, but she hasn't bothered. Shit, what's the point, though? I wouldn't want to get all nice and clean and then have to put dirty clothes back on."

"You guys washed her pants and then put them back on her; what's the difference?"

"I really don't know…" Paul shot out sarcastically, his ire growing. "What the fuck do you care anyway? You don't like the smell; get the hell out of here. Why are you here anyways?"

"Sam called and asked me to check on you guys," Embry answered slightly embarrassed and watching as Paul flared his nostrils in quickly growing anger. Scratch that, Paul was always pissed off, he was just deciding who the unfortunate target was going to be, Embry thought, slouching down further.

"And….what? Running by furry wouldn't have accomplished the same goal?" Leaning forward, Paul felt his muscles begin to tense.

Embry knew the signs and if he didn't give Paul a more acceptable reason for being here, his ass was about to be physically ejected from the house.

"Maybe…? But Sam wanted me to actually see that you hadn't fucked up again since his girl is really taken with yours. How did that happen? Leah's usually a bitch to the new ones."

That probably wasn't the best reminder he should've shared with Paul. Slamming his eyes shut at what was sure to be an altercation, Embry was surprised to hear Paul laugh.

"Fuck if I know. I think Leah is starting to feel like she wants to be a mom and has somehow decided that if she can help Urchin, she'll be ready. I have no fucking clue, though, as to what goes on in her head."

Nodding in agreement, Embry spoke again without censoring his words. A habit that Paul would probably kill him for one day. "Yeah, well, Sam said she's insisting on coming over here tonight to bring some stuff, so maybe you want to clean up your girl so Sam doesn't shit all over us when Leah tells him the girl still looks rotten."

"Damn it! Sam said he'd back off; what the fuck am I supposed to; demand that my urchin take a bath right now?"

"Maybe you have to show her?"Embry rushed to explain in an attempt to placate the snarling wolf. "I mean how long has she been living on the streets anyways? What if she doesn't know what's expected of her?"

"You think?" Paul asked, suddenly curious to the idea. Was it that simple?

Embry laughed nervously. "I don't know, Paul. I mean, she was smart enough to break out of your house. There really isn't a reason as to why she doesn't want to be clean unless she doesn't know how to be."

"Yeah," Paul agreed thoughtfully, thinking back to the kitchen sink. He had seen the noodles in the water and wondered why she had known they were food, but not how to cook them. Maybe she didn't know how to operate the tub or shower? It sounded really fucking stupid and he didn't think she was stupid. Maybe naïve? There was an untouchable quality of innocence that radiated off of his little urchin and Embry's words started to make sense.

The last thing Paul wanted was for their Alpha's…mate—Paul had to remember the respectfulness required for that title—to suddenly show up and report to Sam that Paul wasn't doing all that he should. The more he thought about it, the more the wolf really liked the idea. He could climb in with her and wash her hair and back, slowly peeling off those rags to reveal the soft contours of her body…

Paul was so fucking hard, he thought he'd bust right there in his pants. Even if a bath didn't lead to sex, it would certainly be erotic…

… _Bubbles trailing down her flesh in temptation as he ran a soft cloth over her…_

… _The arch of her back as he carefully washed her hair and then tugged her back into the water to rinse the lather out…_

Paul was up and out of his seat before Embry could even breathe. "I'll be right back," Paul said, not caring about anything except cleaning his urchin.

* * *

><p>Bella could hear them talk about her and her unpleasant odor as she hid in the Paul man's room. She still wasn't entirely sure why she had run to this room when he started his scary tool, but she had; waiting for him to either stop or…she didn't want to think about that. It wasn't that she didn't want to bathe; she didn't trust that someone wouldn't walk in on her, even when she was fairly certain the Paul man wasn't home.<p>

The voices outside of the room lowered and she could no longer make out what they were saying. When the door slowly opened, she crouched down on the other side of the bed, knowing it was a fruitless attempt. She didn't look to see who it was, but heard the person go into the bathroom to turn on the water.

Bella thought about her bear, Moonbeam, in an attempt not to cry over the fact that she had been right. The Paul man had lied to her about not wanting to hurt her and now she was really going to get it. He had a friend with him and this new person wanted her clean. She would have been better off to get in the shower earlier when it was just the Paul man by himself. Instead, she had panicked over the idea of him hinting about her getting in the water with him. Any relief she had felt before was gone.

"Urchin? Hey, how are you?" Paul asked, walking slowly towards her, halting when she seemed to cower. "I'm not going to hurt you, okay, but you really smell bad and need to take a bath."

If anything, she looked like she was trying to disappear into the floor and Paul cursed Leah's insistence on wanting to come over NOW.

"Look, Urchin, I get it, okay? You're embarrassed because you probably don't know how to work the taps. It's not a problem, though. I'm running a bath for you and all you have to do is go in there and get in. Take as much time as you want and shit! If the water gets cold and you want to stay in longer, I can show you how to add more hot water or you can even wrap up in a towel and come get me to do it for you," Paul offered waiting for some sign of acknowledgment from her and when none came he sighed deeply.

If he left his girl in the bathroom alone, it was going to be just like before. She'd probably stick a hand in, maybe a toe and then call it quits. It was possible Embry had been closer to the truth than Paul realized. She hadn't bothered to use silverware and while Paul could let that slide, she needed to get thoroughly cleaned to help stay healthy.

"I'm really sorry," Paul mumbled, "but this is kind of a need to do now type of thing. Leah will probably be here any damn minute and she's gonna flip. We're going to have to do this a bit backwards."

Bella never saw him coming, didn't even know he had moved until she felt herself being picked up. By the time she registered the action, they were already in the bathroom where the tub was filled quite full.

Suddenly she wrapped herself around Paul, clinging for dear life with her fingers laced together around his neck and knees digging into his sides. That much water was never needed to get clean which meant she had been wrong. He had grown tired of her and was going to kill her and Bella had failed to show him she would do whatever he wanted.

Bella had no idea she was scared of water until Paul managed to untangle her and set her inside of the tub, the level of fluid almost to her shoulders.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The first scream was of primal terror; Paul nearly hit his head in shock against the tiled wall surrounding the tub when the first one left her throat. Like a rabid cat, she howled, scratched, bit and fought to get out, waves of water drenching Paul and collecting on the floor.

Using one hand to cuff her wrists and the other to hold her legs, Paul wondered for the first time if he really could be fast enough to grab some soap before his urchin ended up hurting herself or partially launching out of the water.

"Shit, Paul, what the hell are you doing to her?" Embry asked from the door way, startling Paul. He had completely fucking forgotten another wolf was in the house.

"I'm teaching her how to dance, you dick! Obviously I'm giving her a bath," Paul snarled in frustration. He had thought he might be able to at least get her a little bit cleaner than before, even if she was still wearing the same clothes.

"Get in here and give me a hand," Paul barked to the wide-eyed Embry when her head struck his chest repetitively.

Snapping out of his stupor, he came forward to take place of holding down her legs so Paul could have a free hand for soap. He didn't care what he used, reaching for the first available bottle, shampoo.

"Come on, Urchin, please relax and be good," Paul pleaded in desperation, pretty fucking sure she couldn't hear his softened words over her terrified screaming.

Without the use of her appendages his urchin still bucked wildly, attempting to dislodge both him and Embry. Even if one of them released her, she wouldn't be strong enough to get away and Paul started to feel ill at the pain of desperation his girl was emitting in force.

"Paul," Embry hissed as he watched and listened to the girl scream as if her flesh was being ripped off of her body. "Maybe this isn't such a good idea. I'm pretty sure you're scaring the crap out of her."

"No shit, Sherlock! Once we're done, she'll realize that she feels better and we aren't going to hurt her," Paul answered, grimacing when his mate bucked hard enough for her butt to hit the bottom of the tub before arching again.

"Use one hand to hold her wrists," Paul instructed, waiting until Embry's hand could replace his own. "And don't squeeze too hard," he added as an afterthought, already suspecting she might be bruised from her own thrashing and adding to his guilt.

He was going to fucking lay into Leah and Sam whenever the fucktards showed up! This was all of their fault.

With Embry holding down her legs and clamped hands around her wrists, Paul used one hand to grip her hip to hold still in the water while his other rubbed in liberal amounts of shampoo to any available surface, realizing too late that he probably shouldn't have filled the fucking tub so high.

"What the fuck are you guys doing to her? Jesus, I could hear her screaming from a mile aw-" Having stormed into Paul's house, Leah entered the bathroom ready to kick some wolf ass. With a curse, she vaulted over a kneeling Embry to grab the drain plug.

"Leah, stop! I need the fucking water to rinse this shit off," Paul hollered out, his urchin's back doused in streaks of soap. There may have been some bubbles, but these weren't the type Paul had fantasized about when this brilliant idea had appeared.

"You're torturing her, you ass!" Leah screamed right back unapologetically. "This isn't working; I think it's time for plan B."

Stepping on the back of Embry's calves to get to the other side of Paul, Leah smirked when the first wolf grunted from her too hard step. Waiting until most of the water was gone she climbed in behind the thrashing girl and with most of the help coming from the wolves, lifted the hysterical girl up so she could slide under her, not caring about getting wet herself.

"Calm down, Arial. No one is hurting you," Leah coached calmly amidst the shrieks and getting head butted in the nose for her efforts.

"Shit, that hurt," Leah grumbled, deciding maybe being totally calm wasn't a good idea.

She wasn't holding the girl like the wolves had. Instead her arms were loose and relaxed, allowing the terrified girl room to move if she chose. Leah didn't want to add another feeling of restraint to Arial, but she did perform a few dodge and weave motions to avoid her face from being busted. Sam was going to shit as it was.

Bella continued to buck and try to move away, the slow realization that her body was moving more freely as the water drained. It helped some to curb her distress, her howls slowing from the rapidly growing soreness in her throat.

Embry released his grips first, backing away from the tub slowly and in shock. Her screaming faded at the same pace, nothing more than hopeless whimpers by the time Embry had made it to the farthest side of the bathroom. Paul, too, followed the other male's lead, backing away in emotional pain.

Through a stream of murmurings and well placed curses at the men from Leah, Bella finally wore herself out, turning around to cling to the woman who apparently didn't mean to harm her at all and was making the men move away.

Hiccupping and sniffling, Bella caught sight of the Paul man. He didn't look mad, not yet, but he looked like he was in pain. She ducked her head in shame. People who hurt other people were bad and Bella didn't want to be one of those.

The woman she was clinging to slowly brought her hands up to give Bella a hug, suddenly making her feel kind of silly. No one was out to kill her at the moment; they just wanted her to be clean, judging by the large amount of soap still smeared across her. Now, she had to take care of the mess of her clothing. She didn't know what she was going to do, though. Aside from her socks, the rest had ripped and torn in her struggle and she'd have to find some more pins to fix it.

Maybe she could look for a needle and thread? Far from knowing how to sew, she could at least knot enough of the string to hold the torn pieces together. She'd still have to wear her clothes wet until they dried and that could take all night; the Paul man would never let her sleep on the new bed wet.

"Arial, are you okay?" the woman finally asked her, the water gargling as the last of it flowed through the drain.

Nodding, it was then Bella realized that the woman had gotten wet in her attempt to save her from the water, making her feel even worse. Her eyes searched the room for the men and when she didn't see them, she gave the nice woman a questioning look.

"Paul is such an ass," She answered as if she could read the thought. "Don't pay him any attention. The moron should've known better than to throw you in a tub without letting you do it on your own. I kicked his ass outside, so you could be alone, the pervert. I don't know what Embry was thinking either, he damn well knows better than that. Wait until I tell Emily."

"Ah, Leah, come on. I was trying to help," Embry's voice yelled across the house, causing Bella to stiffen again. Wide eyed she looked at this Leah woman.

"He might have been trying to help; Embry's not usually such a douche," Leah attempted to reassure Bella. "But they're guys and are really stupid; the lot of them probably don't have enough common sense to keep a rock alive."

Not entirely sure what this Leah woman meant, Bella just nodded in agreement. The woman had gotten the Paul man and that Embry person to leave and she didn't even have a bruise.

Unaware of what the girl was thinking, Leah changed the topic to the subject at hand. "If the bath tub scares you, you can always take a shower instead," she said pointing to the separate unit. "Would that make you feel better?"

No, it really wouldn't but Bella knew she had to wash the soap of her clothes. If she didn't it would dry and leave her sticky and itchy. Releasing the woman, Bella sniffled again and then nodded once more, slowly standing up to climb out of the tub, slipping in the process and barely catching herself in time before face planting onto the floor. The woman had an easier time moving, probably because she was a lot taller than Bella. She led her over to the separate shower, turning it on and then stepping away from the frosted doors.

"Do you want me to stay?" she asked, watching as Bella anxiously looked at the door where that Paul man and Embry person had left.

"Trust me," Leah assured her confidently, "those two bastards won't come in here again. Do you want me to help you wash your hair? Since we're already wet, it won't matter and then I can leave so you can finish everything else privately."

Without a word, Bella clung to Leah's hand when they entered the large shower, doing as instructed when told to step under the spray to get her hair wet.

"You really have a lot of hair," Leah commented, wishing she had thought to grab a comb. The girl's hair was long, dark and completely nasty in its current condition. It took Leah awhile to separate the strands and knots enough to use shampoo and even then she had to do a second washing.

"Paul better buy some fucking conditioner the next time he goes shopping," Leah grumbled noticing how dehydrated the locks felt once all of the crap was out of it. When she was satisfied the hair was clean, she tapped Arial on her shoulder, waiting until she turned around to stare.

'I'm done now, sweetie. I'm gonna jump out to dry off and then I'll leave, okay? Just toss your clothes on the floor; I brought you some new things to wear and I'll set them inside by the door. They're probably too big, but you're really small and I didn't have time to look for something else. We'll make sure Paul buys you properly fitting things soon, okay?"

Once Leah was gone, Bella stayed under the spray a few more minutes, thinking over her options. Women weren't always nice but usually more often than men. The Leah woman seemed to be genuinely upset at what the Paul man had done and it comforted Bella, knowing she was probably safe to strip and wash herself all at once.

Stripping her garments slowly, Bella cautiously opened the shower door to drop the sodden garments aside, the clothes making a funny squishy sound when they hit the floor. She tried not to cry when the water hit her stomach directly, cringing and quickly turning her back to the spray. Her earlier struggles had caused part of the sore to open and Bella really hoped the Paul man would forget to put medicine on it; he would be really mad if he saw the blood.

When she was done, she turned off the water, making several attempts to push the lever all the way into the off position. Peeking around the glass door, Bella made sure she was alone before stepping out; even waiting a few minutes just to make sure no one came barging in. Just as promised there was clothing by the door; something black and light grey.

The one thing Bella didn't see as she fumbled for a towel to wrap around her body and walk over to the clothing were the puddles of water that dripped from her earlier struggles and then Leah's departure. There was nothing to grab a hold of when she went down, having enough sense to protect her head and turn to her side, landing directly on her bony hip.

* * *

><p>Embry left once the men heard the water running again, presumably to go change while Paul sat outside of the bathroom, trying not to bang his head against the wall in defeat. When Leah came back out thirty minutes later, the shower still running, Paul scrambled to his feet.<p>

"Did she say anything? Is she okay? What the hell happened?" He asked rapidly, trying to peer around the door as Leah exited and then firmly shut it.

"Of course she didn't say anything; she was too goddamn worried about drowning," Leah huffed with a look of disgust.

Paul stared at the woman as if she had just announced she was a singing Tulip. "How could you possibly know that?"

Flinging open every drawer Paul had, Leah searched for something dry to put on. "Because she took a shower just fine. As we speak she's washing the rest of herself privately." Finding something semi-worthy, she threw her towel on the bedroom floor and started to strip knowing Paul would turn around.

"Shit, this is still my fucking house," Paul grumbled as he spun around to stare at the bathroom door while Sam's imprint peeled off clothing. The Alpha was going to shit a troll when his girl came home smelling like another wolf.

Even with the shower still running, Paul heard his urchin make a sound of pain. He placed his hand against the wood barrier, hoping he could reign in his wolf enough to stay on this side until his girl was done. Paul needed a fucking distraction.

"Leah, how do you know she was scared of being drowned?" He asked cautiously, wondering how he could've missed the fucking signs himself. He didn't even know what the hell the signs were, but apparently Leah had.

Redressed, Leah walked over to the distressed wolf, ready to sock him in the nuts. "How could you not know, Paul? That poor girl was in such shock she wasn't even thinking rationally while trying to buck off you two shits." Her face softened slightly at Paul's look of horror. "I don't know that she was scared of being drowned, but people don't react like that when introduced to a bath. Once most of the water was gone, she seemed okay and even let me wash her hair; which, by the way, was completely fucking nasty."

Paul wanted to be angry at the woman who had—in less than an hour—not only convinced his girl to shower, but had been able to assist her. His urchin didn't know Leah, hadn't even met her until the Alpha's girl had come charging in the bathroom, hollering at the top of her lungs.

Unexpectedly, Paul suddenly didn't feel like he was the 'everything' he needed to be for his urchin and it burned a trench in his heart.

"Shit, Leah, maybe Sam was right. I don't know what the fuck I'm doing. Hell, I couldn't even remember to stock the fucking house with food for her to eat."

"Don't," Leah said warningly, not liking his look of defeat.

"Don't what? Don't admit that I just keep fucking up right and left? She panicked when we woke up this morning and then again when I asked what she wanted for breakfast. I thought she'd give herself a fucking heart attack when we went over to Billy Black's but figured I had earned some redemption points when I showed her the room she could use and placed a bed in it. Instead, she fucking cried because I asked her if the blanket she was using was warm enough. Lunch and dinner went fairly unscathed unless you count the part where she filled her pockets with some crackers and then later with meatballs from dinner. As soon as I told her I was changing the door lock and brought out the drill, she took off to cower in a corner, scared shitless like I was going to kill her! Then Embry came hopping over here with the brilliant idea of me showing her how to bathe and you walked in. A fucking bath should not end with a rescue." Paul was panting and damn near foaming at the mouth by the end of his rant. He wasn't in danger of Phasing and sure as hell wasn't about to admit that he was in danger of crying.

Leah waited until he collected himself before speaking.

"Are you finished yet? I'd really like the Paul Lahote I know to return the pussy he's borrowed to become some hysterical girl and reattach his balls to be a man," Leah demanded sarcastically, earning a glare from Paul that she ignored.

"True, the bath thing was beyond messed up and lucky for you I stepped in. Don't expect for me to be here all the time to save your ass." Grinning evilly, Leah gave Paul a wink before turning serious.

"I think once she talks, it'll be easier for both of you. But you can't expect fucking miracles overnight." Patting his cheek affectionately, Leah went to step away, surprised when his hand caught hers.

"You're such a bitch," Paul said, a small smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

"I know and neither you, nor Sam, would have it any other way."

"Thanks, Leah," Paul said sincerely, dropping her hand.

"No need to thank me. Your girl smelled something awful. I was going to go home and get some girl stuff and then planned on coming over here to drag her into the ocean if you hadn't beaten me to the bath idea."

"Still…I'm happy you came over to bail my ass out before it turned fucking tragic somehow," Paul said. Laughing, Leah pranced out of his room, returning a few minutes later with a plastic bag she used to place her wet clothes in

"Okay, I've thought of how you can make it up to me," Leah blurted out unexpectedly, returning to the wall Paul was stationed against. Dropping gracefully to the floor, she waited for him to inquire.

Groaning, Paul did allow his head to bang softly against the plaster behind him this time. "Shit. Do I even want to guess?"

"Relax," Leah offered in a tone that usually caused her own wolf to cower in regret. "Tomorrow, since Sam told me you took off from work, I get to go with you and Arial to help her buy some new clothes."

"And that's it?" Paul asked, allowing one eye to pop open in surprise. "You just want to tag along for a small shopping trip?"

Yep, I just want-"

Whatever Leah wanted was cut off by the loud thump that echoed from the closed bathroom door. Paul nearly barreled through the thing in his haste to get inside.

* * *

><p>The door crashed open before the first tear could slip down Bella's cheek, someone holding her again.<p>

"Shit, Urchin, are you okay?" Paul demanded, fucking angry beyond belief that he hadn't thought to put towels down for her to walk on.

"What happened?" Leah demanded, struggling against Embry when he held her back from entering the bathroom.

When Embry and Leah stood in the doorway, Bella wanted to crawl away and tried to struggle out of Paul's grasp, embarrassed that these strangers could see her without clothes even though the towel hid most of her.

"Close the fucking door, you twats," Paul yelled out, watching as Embry gently pulled a cursing Leah from the door before shutting it.

"Oh my god, Urchin, I am so fucking sorry. Let me see how bad you're hurt?" Paul requested, moving to open the towel.

His imprint would have none of that. When his grip around her torso loosened, she slid off of his lap, trying to crawl away and managing to slip on the puddles, her hands sliding across the slick tile floor.

"Stop before you fucking kill yourself," Paul yelled, grabbing his urchin again.

_What the fuck was wrong with her? Obviously she was hurt, her movements causing every muscle in her slender frame to tighten._ With one arm around her, Paul stood and quickly threw more towels down, sitting in the middle of them so she wouldn't slip anymore.

"Urchin, you are obviously in pain. I know you're freaking out and that's why you're trembling, but I also know you hit the floor hard. I could hear it out in the other room. Can you tell me what hurts?"

Her acknowledgment was slow in coming. She seemed to be fiddling with the towel, her hand grazing over her right hip in agitation and nervousness, more than he had seen her do in the past. He continued to wait for her to point at what hurt, briefly wondering if she had landed on her back and was scared to point because she was pressed against him.

Forty seconds later, when she made one of those awful squeaky moaning noises, Paul once again felt like a goddamn idiot.

"Your hip?" he asked, relieved when she stopped moving her hand and nodded once. His own hand was close to tugging open the towel to look when he heard Leah muttering in the other room.

"I'm telling you Embry. I'll have Sam flay his ass open wide if she starts screaming again. You guys might think you're big and bad, but I'd be willing to use Paul as my lab rat to test that against every poison in the world."

Tightening his fingers, Paul exhaled slowly. He did need to see if his urchin was okay, but he needed to do this less drastically than ripping open the towel. He caught sight of the clothes Leah had brought over and a plan formed.

Carefully he lifted his girl, sitting her down next to him and then rose to get the items, smirking when he caught sight of the obvious feminine panties Leah had included.

"Look," he explained, handing her the clothes while squatting down in front of the trembling girl. "I'm not going anywhere until I see how bad you hurt yourself. I'll go stand over there in the corner," he said pointing to the farthest point in the bathroom, "and keep my back turned until you're dressed. Then I want to see your hip."

Bella knew she didn't have a choice, but at least he said she could put some clothes on. Her hip hurt a lot, but she had had far worse and wondered why she couldn't stop crying. She fumbled with the clothes, her haste making her clumsy.

The sweater went on first and then the underwear, her first priorities effectively covered. She started at the bra dumbly, wondering why she needed it. That looked like it would only draw attention to a place she didn't want people staring at to begin with. Looking around, Bella decided to shove it under some of the towels; she could come back later to find a better place to stash it.

The pants were soft and fit her snugly, enough that the garment didn't require the use of a zipper, buttons or even a belt. These would be very comfortable to sleep in, Bella decided, looking up to see the Paul man turning around.

He approached her cautiously, joining her on the pile of towels next to her aching hip. He didn't say anything when he pulled at the waist band to reveal the flesh studying the area before just as carefully pulling the pants into place.

"Does it feel broken?" Paul asked, wishing to hell he could wolf lick the bruise away, or maybe just lie his tongue across it for a few hours in hopes of her skin absorbing some of his healing abilities. It didn't work like that, though, and when his urchin just shrugged and winced, he had to cut himself off from whining.

"Can you walk?" In once graceful move, he stood up, leaning over to lift her under the shoulders into a standing position.

Bella wobbled for a minute, her hands hovering around the Paul man, but not touching him. Shifting most of her weight to her left side, she dropped her arms and nodded. She could walk, probably not very fast and it hurt to move, but she didn't want him to kick her out. Not if he was still going to keep after the bath incident.

The Paul man looked like he didn't believe her, his mouth pinched closed and his eyes narrowed in concentration. Nervously Bella waited to see what he wanted her to do.

"Well, you bruised it pretty badly, Urchin. I don't think you should walk, but I don't want you to freak out anymore, okay? So we're going to go back out into the living room and I'm going to walk right next to you. I want you to hold onto my arm, that way you can squeeze if it gets too painful, or you feel like you're going to fall."

Still nervous, Bella nodded. It really didn't matter how close he walked to her now. If he was going to do anything she didn't like, there was no way of getting away from it in a hurry. At least he was nice enough not to want to see her fall.

Leaving the bathroom was painful. Her hip ached and throbbed all the way down to her toes with every step, but she didn't want the Paul man to think she was weak. When they hit the doorway from his room to the hallway, Bella stopped to breathe deeply, trying to find a safe place in her head to ignore the pain.

"Urchin, do I need to carry you?" he asked her.

Quickly she shook her head and took another step, forgetting to shift her weight and shuffle. Bella tried to relax her fingers and not dig into the flesh of the arm underneath except she couldn't do that and keep silent at the same time, her agonized moan slipping past her guard.

"Shit," the Paul man whispered, his arms moving away and repositioning to pick her up.

Bella didn't care anymore, tears threatening to overtake her façade. She didn't notice the whispered conversation around her, or when the Paul man sat down with her in his lap. She didn't know other people were still in the house, or that they were watching her with looks of sadness.

She did notice the pressure of a hard, iced hand pressing where it hurt the most.

_Oh…the monsters had suddenly come for her,_ Bella thought, knowing nothing else would feel as cold as their touches. The room was eerily silent and she didn't want to open her eyes to see what had happened to the people who had been keeping her, the Paul man who had fed her several times and without payment.

She hoped the monsters wouldn't make him suffer. Bella didn't think she could watch these innocent people be harmed.

"Are you okay, Arial?" A woman's voice called out, breaking her painful musings.

Startled Bella jerked her head up to see the Leah woman sitting nearby, the other non-Paul man, too.

"Don't move, Urchin. It's just a rag with some ice to help with the pain," The Paul man told her before addressing the other two.

"Look, I think you guys should probably go. Embry please tell Emily thanks for her thoughtfulness and Leah…maybe you could call Sam and explain before you go home and surprise the fuck out of him by wearing my clothes?"

"Are you kidding?" Leah asked, gleefully happy. "If wearing someone else's clothes is what it takes to get a surprise fuc-"

Embry jumped forward to cover Leah's mouth before she could finish her statement. "It's okay, Paul. I'll run by first and tell him. We'll see you later." With a perturbed Leah, Embry escorted her to the door, leaving Paul and his urchin in peace.

With company gone, Paul stayed on the couch, huddling his urchin close. He didn't know why she was scared of water and it was a thought that really fucking bothered him. At the first sound of water dripping from his girl's icepack, he slung it over to the table, not giving two shits about any mess it might make.

"Are you okay?" Paul whispered, leaning over the slumped figure in his lap. With one hand he brushed his hand over her wet hair, surprised at the thickness of her tresses.

"Would it be okay…can I brush your hair?" It was a few minutes before the girl nodded half heartedly, exhaustion damn near radiating off of the small figure he held snug and secure. Paul wanted to pick her up to retrieve his hairbrush, but it was back at the scene of the crime—so to speak—and Paul didn't think he could handle the sight of his hurt urchin in the bathroom again. Pressing her securely into the cushions, he made a solo trip; coming back with a plastic brush in hand and her blanket…just in case she was cold.

He didn't want to jostle his girl too much and ended up sliding on the couch behind her head and then carefully pulling her upwards into a sitting position with their legs stretched out. Starting at the ends, Paul worked slowly and meticulously to untangle her hair, partitioning one inch tresses at a time. Her hair may have been clean, but it was ungodly fucking knotted. Several times he wondered if he shouldn't grab some butter or cooking oil to help work the brush through in a smoother motion, each time deciding it wasn't worth another bathroom accident when she would have to go wash it out once he was done.

After an hour and a half he was finally done, noting that her hair was drying into adorable fucking ringlets. At first, Paul figured he'd braid it, but he couldn't bring himself to do so. Her hair was long and slightly unmanageable as it was and Paul found it extremely provocative.

He ran the brush through for several minutes, watching as one area of her hair slanted weird. "You have beautiful hair, urchin. It's…fluffy and kind of thick," he commented like a moron, trying to manipulate an obnoxious clump of hair.

No matter how he moved the tress, it would not lie evenly and it wasn't due to curl. He dropped the brush to his side, picking up the errant lock and trailed his fingers to her skull, lifting the piece. An instant frown formed.

"Urchin, did cut your head on something? You have a scar line…" Paul stopped talking as he lifted a different curl, trailing it to her scalp. There was another scar line…another…and another. Dozens of tiny scars were on her head; odd, jagged little lines that scared the shit out of Paul.

"Does this hurt?" he murmured, rubbing the tip of his pointer finger over a particularly large line that felt bumpy.

Sleepily, her hand moved up to touch the spot, brushing against Paul's in the process. Once she found the spot, her finger rubbed it tenderly, her head slowly shaking to tell him it didn't hurt.

The scars weren't fresh. In fact they were probably years old judging by the fadedness. He was reasonably certain they weren't hurting his imprint, although, her hand had drooped back to her side signaling exhaustion. Like so much of her past, whatever had happened he couldn't change it and decided to focus on the now.

"I'm happy you're finally clean. You smell really nice," Paul carried on, knowing he sounded like a lame-ass dork. He couldn't help it, though. With all of the filth and grime gone, his little urchin glowed like a beacon to him; the wolf within smirking, knowing she had been this awesome even before the bath.

He could feel every muscle in her body lose any and all tension as she relaxed further towards sleep. Carefully he leaned both of them over, rolling past her so that she lay between him and the couch, her back still against his chest.

_Shit! Her knife wound!_

Carefully sitting back up, Paul waited until he knew she had hit a deep cycle of sleeping, rolling his urchin onto her back so he could lift her shirt. Her wound had looked better this morning but after her battle in the bathroom, it now looked irritated and had opened again. Without any hesitation, he dropped to his knees on the floor and leaned over to tend the gash, not bothering with the medicinal goo.

With her wolf treatment finished, Paul climbed back up to huddle next to his girl. Several times he thought about getting up so they could stretch out on her bed, the wolf inside all but holding up a flashing sign that showed wolves preferred to sleep in tight bundles with their mates. Paul felt his own eyes close in contentment and bliss, popping open quickly when he felt her squirm a bit before turning over, her cold hands squished between them.

Using his foot, he kicked off his boots- more of a nasty tearing when he had to involve his fingers to loosen the laces—then with a fuck awesome dexterity, used his freed foot to snag the blanket at their feet to pull up and cover her; his own form not needing any extra protecting from the cold.

They shifted several times during the night, sometimes the girl facing towards, or away from him, but always close. Sometimes she was on the outside, a set of strong arms supporting her torso hanging over the side with her rump still on the couch and planted against the wolf.

It was the first night Paul's wolf didn't nudge him awake in loneliness, despair or anxiety. Its mate was safe, warm and most importantly, in its arms.


	14. Chapter 13

A/N: Hugs and kisses to my reviewers and beta, ShadowPast620.

* * *

><p>Tossing a large Rubbermaid tote on the ground, Paul swung open the doors of his jeep, unzipping the back canvas window and throwing out his work shit into the bin to store in the house for the trip to Port Angeles.<p>

Drill bits, empty soda cans, opened package of condoms…

…_Shit! Were they still good?..._

… junk mail, a hammer, a saw box, gloves, hard hat, tape measure, flash light, zip ties, electrical tape, fishing line…

…_When the fuck had he gone fishing?..._

…dried out handy wipes, WD-40, a vice, extension cord, pack of fuses, razor blades, caulking gun, special edition Playboy…

Pausing to glance at the cover, Paul immediately threw the magazine aside to the trash pile. He more than loved the female figure, but the big tittied bimbos of his thoughts had been replaced by the image of the small girl currently cowering in his house. If he was being honest with himself, he had more than passing thoughts of stripping her naked and sucking on those tiny globes until she whimpered in pleasure.

The imprinting warred with his baser, male desires. A tit was a tit and it galled him slightly to think he now only desired one pair. The fact that he'd rather rip off his own dick than cause his imprint harm seemed both natural and foreign to him.

Paul didn't think he liked these new feelings at all. Not one fucking bit. He was happy to have a mate, but trying to rationalize it drove him bat shit crazy. Urchin was his mate. She belonged with him. He was hers. Others were insignificant. End of story.

Giving the now offensive magazine an extra kick with his boot, Paul returned to clearing out his jeep, disgusted that the thing had somehow become a dump site.

_How the fuck had he managed to store so much shit in here? _

"What are you doing?" Leah asked as she came up to the side of the jeep, rubbing her arms in the brisk morning air. Paul jerked mildly in surprise. He had heard her pull up, but his brain had been too occupied with other shit to dwell on the source.

"Cleaning out my shit, so I have room for the stuff I need to buy Urchin," Paul explained, tossing a mix & matched collection of screwdrivers into the open tote box.

"Paul," Leah's grating voice screeched in his ears, "there is no way all four of us can comfortably sit in your shit mobile to drive to Port A."

Failing to pause, Paul still shoveled more shit out of his jeep. _Was it like a fucking black hole of vehicles?_ "Leah, I could give two shits if you're comfortable, and what the hell do you mean, four of us? Did Sam get suckered into tagging along, too?"

Back cargo space finally fucking empty, Paul zipped the canvas into place and then kicked the tote to follow him to the passenger side door. Yanking it open, he pulled the front seat forward and gaped.

_Had he always been such a fucking pack rat? Christ, there was enough shit back here to look like he lived in his jeep!_

Paul's wolf was less than pleased with the unintentional pun.

"No, Mr.-I'm-supposed-to-able-to-smell-a-fucking-clue-a-mile-away," Leah cut into his thoughts. "Sammy has not decided to join us on this adventure. I asked Kim to come along since the more females the merrier."

"That," Paul remarked with over exaggeration on the word, "is a shitty idea. I agreed to let you go because my urchin might feel a bit overwhelmed and need a friendly female for support. For whatever sick sense of humor the spirits have, she seems to sort of like you. Kim, however, she has never met and I don't want her to feel crowded. She's nervous around large groups of people." Picking up an overly crumpled paper bag, he sniffed once and tried not to gag. Apparently that was where he had accidently left a work lunch three weeks ago.

_How the fuck did I not smell that until now?_

"She can't be that nervous, or you wouldn't be going at all," Leah huffed in growing ire.

Dropping the offending bag, Paul leaned further into the jeep, his voice slightly muffled. "Wrong again. We haven't even left the house and I can already hear her picking at the threads of her clothing in anxiety. Once we're in the city I figure we can move quickly through the shops and she won't have too much time to become nervous about all of the new faces. Bringing Kim is a new face she won't be able to get away from if she wants to."

"There is nothing wrong with Kim!"Leah exclaimed. "Christ, does Jared know how you really feel about his girl?"

Paul spared a glance towards Leah and then wished he hadn't when his fingers scraped against something sticky and jiggly under the car seat. _What the ever loving fuck_…"Jared has nothing to do with this; not directly at least. Urchin did take his wallet, though, and I'm sure when she finally has to see his face again, she's going to flip the fuck out a bit. Bringing Kim with us is like using a trail of goddamn breadcrumbs for Jared. Does he even know you're dragging his imprint along?"

Paul was far from squeamish, but he sure as hell didn't want to know what his fingers had found under the seat. Pulling out of the back, he bent over the tote and retrieved a roll of paper towels. They, too, were kinda fucking dirty, yet he still used them to wipe his fingers off, unwinding a huge wad to use as a glove to grab what had felt like a huge snotball under his seat.

"Jared is not her fucking keeper, Paul," Leah said, taking a step away from the side of the vehicle when Paul removed whatever funk he had stored in his nasty ass jeep. Even if Kim wasn't going with them, Leah was not about to ride in that shit. "She's free to do as she pleases. But if you think I'm going to go to Port A alone, with you making googley eyes at your girl the whole fucking time, think again!"

Paul simply nodded his head approvingly. This could be easier than he thought. "Good point. Why don't you and Kim frolic off by yourselves and I'll take Urchin alone. Win, win."

"Wrong, wrong, loser," Leah smirked, immune to male manipulation. "Do you think I'd trust you enough to buy her normal looking clothing? I'd bet Sam's left nut that you don't even know what her size is."

"Sam will be missing his body parts if you try that shit too many times. As it happens, I know she has a twenty inch waist," Paul announced proudly.

"Which means shit as far as girl clothing goes," Leah remarked snidely before doing a double take. "Really, a twenty inch waist? Jesus, that's…are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure," Paul said with absolute certainty before frowning and losing a part of his confident edge. He would bet the house that Leah's surprise was not the usual bullshit girl envy. "Why, what's wrong with that?"

"It's unhealthy. I mean, I knew she was small which is why I grabbed her kid's clothes. I just didn't realize she was that small. Oh, that reminds me…" Reaching into her coat pocket, Leah pulled out a bundle of rags and tossed them towards Paul.

He watched the tatters fall to the ground. "What the fuck are those?"

"That would be what's left of the clothes I had to borrow last night," Leah said happily before toeing the remains. "I don't think you'll be able to salvage them, though."

"Jesus Christ," Paul muttered, leaning over to pick the shit up. "Why would you bring back scraps? You could've just thrown it away."

"I don't know. I felt bad until I remembered I brought Arial stuff. Speaking of which, did she like it?"

Paul just shrugged. "She's still wearing it. I guess she fucking likes it."

"It's just like you not to give a fuck about what your girl is wearing, Paul," Leah accused, right back up in his face. "I spent close to a damn hour in the store, trying to decide what size she would fit into it until I gave up and just bought sweats. She's never going to fit in normal sized clothes."

"Which is why I'm trying to fatten her up to a nice twenty three; maybe even twenty four inch waist," Paul said. He liked his little urchin's body just fine, but if she gained a few pounds, she'd have fuck hot curves! His smile came back.

"Ugggh, I told you, girls don't go by real measurements unless it's for our bras," Leah grumbled, only adding more fuel to Paul's fantasy fire.

"Got that one covered too. My girl is a 32-B." Shit, if Leah didn't shut the fuck up soon, they wouldn't be going anywhere. Paul might have to take a second shower for the day.

"How the fuck could you know that?" Leah asked, once again surprised. She guessed accurately yesterday, but there was no way a man would know shit like that.

Shrugging indifference, Paul went back to cleaning out his shit mobile. "Same way I know that you're a 36-D, Kim's a 34-B, Nadine is the perfect 36-C, Claudia is a 34-"

"Stop it, you fucking pervert," Leah screamed, aghast that Paul even knew that shit much less spouted it out like a proud feat. "What the hell is wrong with you? Have you been eyeing all of the imprints boobs?"

Paul pulled back out of the jeep when Leah punched him in the kidney. It didn't hurt, but it was unwise to antagonize a werewolf as volatile as Paul. "Jesus, Leah, how long have you been banging a wolf? By now you shoul-"

"-because I KNOW Sam will be pissed off and for as sweet as Jake can be, he'll flip his shit, too," Leah threatened the unimpressed wolf.

Paul waited until Leah had calmed down before asking calmly, "Do you know what color Mr. Simon's house is?"

"It's grey," Leah answered automatically before scowling. "But what the fuck does that have to do with-"

"And do you ogle his house?" Paul cut in before she could work herself up. "Do you fantasize about owning it, or living there?"

"No, that place is a dive, but shit! I've seen it every damn day of my life; his house is on the way into the Rez," Leah explained.

"Exactly," Paul answered as if Leah had just stumbled across the answer to life. "I have seen every imprint both mentally and physically. I could give two shits about any of their chest sizes, but I can easily tell you what they all are. I am not a fucking pervert, especially when it comes to knowing my girl's clothing size, both normally and intimately.

Leah's stupor of incredulity only grew. "I swear to god, if you give me any details whatsoever about your girl's cooch size, I'll make sure Sam pummels your ass."

Paul tilted his head upwards to address the sky. "And with that final statement, ladies and gentlemen, your asses can stay here." Dropping his chin, he silently gloated when Leah's mouth snapped shut.

Both stared at each other for a few minutes, Leah finally remembering he owed her! "But you promised last night that I could-"

"Yes, you," Paul cut her off. "Not you and Kim."

Paul went back to cleaning out his jeep, casually watching Leah stand there and think about things.

"You know," Leah began slowly, pulling her arms tighter around her waist. "It's really getting chilly. Arial might be cold in your jeep since you only have the cloth top."

"No, Urchin won't get cold. I don't plan to have the fucking thing open and we're going to buy her warmer clothes specifically for the winter." With both seats cleaned out from underneath, Paul wondered if he should tackle the glove box, too. Fuck it! He wasn't an obsessive clean freak and the smell-de-funk had vanished with the last unidentifiable crap removed.

"Yeah, but you're a wolf," Leah cajoled. "You don't realize how those wisps of cold air can sneak in and creep up your clothing even if you can't see where it's coming from." Pausing as if in deep thought, she let her tendrils of manipulation wrap around Paul's head before dropping the final bomb.

"It hardly takes more than that to get us imprints unknowingly sick," Leah remarked offhandedly, turning to head back towards her SVU. She paced slowly, counting to herself and waiting until…

"Goddamn it, Leah! Fine, you fucking win. Let's all go in your vehicle," Paul yelled, slamming the tote closed to take back in the house. "But I'm driving and Urchin gets shotgun." Leah's laughter echoed throughout the yard as she vocally disagreed and jumped back into the driver's seat.

* * *

><p>"I guess we'll have to wait until Black Friday until we can take her to a real mall," Leah sighed deeply, listening to Kim chatter about the necessities of a proper wardrobe. She was happy that at least Kim was talking. Unlike the two living statues sitting behind her, Leah thought, glancing at her mirror and instantly mimicking Paul's new expression.<p>

Paul glared at the review mirror catching the blasphemous woman's frown. "Are you snorting crack? What moron with any sense of self respect goes shopping on Black Friday?"

"Oh, that's right," Leah mocked." Mr. Paul is usually balls deep in some bimbo's turkey." Glancing in the mirror again, Leah caught Paul's horrified expression; his eyes darting to the side to look at his girl.

"Sorry, Arial," Leah called out as an apology. 'I was just busting his chops."

The small owl eyed girl, looked first at Leah and then to the Paul man, unsure as to what she needed an apology for. Tentatively smiling she went back to look out the window.

"Do you like going to the mall?" Kim piped up, turning around in her seat to stare at Bella. Paul's groan and Leah's smack to her leg, told Kim she had asked the wrong thing.

"It's a tradition we started a few years ago," Kim continued hesitantly. "The guys rent hotel rooms and we drive to Seattle on Thursday night after we stuffed ourselves full at Sue's house. She makes great food!"

"Hey! I help," Leah cut in.

"Yeah, but you still aren't as good as your mom," Kim said.

"Don't I know it?" Leah mumbled, remembering her failure at last year's casserole. "Do you think we'll be able to get an extra room this late? With Paul and Arial that makes nine couples."

"Are you deaf?" Paul asked rudely from the back seat. "We aren't going."

Neither girl paid any attention to the snarky wolfman in the back seat.

"Nah," Kim said instantly disagreeing. "Next year we'll need an extra room, but this year I'm pretty sure Emily won't feel like going and Embry would pace a ravine into the mall's flooring as he pouted, worried Emily will go into premature labor," she reasoned.

Leah snorted unattractively. "That boy needs to calm down. My cousin is perfectly healthy and does everything on a timetable. The doctor already said her due date was February 2nd. She won't even allow for the first contraction to start until then."

"They are kind of freakish schedule keepers," Kim remarked thoughtfully before laughing.

"Right?" Leah asked good naturedly. "When me and Sam finally decide to have kids, I'll probably have to staple a post it note to his forehead.

"You might want to consider using the stapler on your mouth, too," Paul grumbled. "I'd suggest one of the commercial grade ones we use at work."

"No, but feel free to bring it home so I can show Arial how to use that shit on you. If any mouth needs commercial grade stapling, it'd be yours," Leah said, glaring once more at the mirror before turning back to traffic. She felt him grab the back of her seat and was startled when he spoke.

"Make a left up here," Paul directed, leaning towards the front of the car as Leah entered the city limits.

"Paul, I'm not taking some ass backwards roads 'cause you think it might be safer for us. The store is still a few miles away," she complained.

"I wouldn't dream of asking you to do that, Leah," Paul commented just as snidely. "I'd like to make a stop before we go shopping."

"Paul, there is nothing up here except…," Leah stopped talking as she thought about why Paul was making a weird request, the first and obvious answer flashing quickly. "NO! Your ass cannot possibly be hungry again. Didn't you shove that maw wide with crap before we left La Push? I swear, traveling anywhere with you guys is like toting a two year old and having to stop every damn half hour so they can tinkle."

Paul couldn't help himself. Batting his eyes, he gave Leah a look of pouting innocence in the mirror. "I promise not to tinkle, Mommy Leah," he said in a child's voice. Kim snorted quietly in amusement and Leah just continued to glare before Paul spoke again normally. "Now drive our asses to the damn bakery."

Food for a wolf was one battle even an imprint couldn't win. Paul was ass enough to probably start chewing on her seat if she didn't comply. Leah gave Kim a look who just shrugged.

"I normally wouldn't stop by there, but since we're already here, I could go for a croissant," Kim responded placidly.

"Fine," Leah grumbled, making the necessary turn. She knew by the time they walked into the bakery, her stomach would be demanding a cheese Danish and she might even grab some cherry fritters to surprise Sam with later.

"What kind of treat do you want, Urchin?" Paul whispered into his girl's ear when they stood in line in front of the long displays of baked goodies.

She turned her head to view the selections, a sense of her unease shocking Paul when she made no move to tell him what she wanted.

"Do you want a croissant like Kim's getting?" he asked again.

-nothing

"If you just want to point, I'll ask for it," Paul offered, thinking she might not know pointing was a perfectly fucking acceptable option. Her hands were clenched tightly to her side, making Paul reach out to brush a forefinger across the top of her closest hand.

"How about a Danish or muffin? They have lots of flavors…" Trailing off, Paul looked around the small establishment wondering what had his girl on edge. The place wasn't overly busy and few had even glanced their way. Urchin, however, had her eyes glued directly in front of her. Paul figured she probably didn't even fucking know there were other people around and was trying not to zombie zone.

_Take charge_, his wolf whispered in encouragement, Paul already planning to do that.

"I'm going to buy some doughnuts; a shit ton of variety and we can take the rest home with us for later," Paul told his girl softly. "Will that work for you?"

His urchin's unease began to ebb and she finally nodded.

"Good choice," Paul praised before delivering a quick peck to her temple and then straightening back up to stand directly behind his girl.

"Well," Leah demanded of Paul, hearing his approval. "What does Arial want? Or are you just going to make all of her decisions for her?"

Turning, she grabbed the girl's hand to practically drag her closer to the glass countertops. 'Pick whatever you want, Arial. Paul's buying."

"Stop forcing her to change her mind," Paul intervened, "She's already pointed to some doughnuts of her choice."

"Funny," Leah said suspiciously, giving him a hard look. "That would be your favorite, wouldn't it?"

Gently attempting to massage the tension from his girl's shoulders, Paul smirked. "What can I say? There's a reason we're together; she has fanfucktastic taste like I do."

"Bullshit, Lahote," Leah spat before stepping back over to the register to place her order. "Two cheese Danishes, three cherry fritters, a banana and blueberry muffin-"

Paul, who had been happily touching his girl's shoulders and wishing it was warm enough for her to wear a tank top, realized that Leah was still fucking talking. "Jesus Christ, Leah. Are you planning on the world ending suddenly?"

"- a croissant, a plain bagel with strawberry cream cheese, and an everything with veggie cream cheese," Leah finished before scowling at Paul.

"Is that all?" The cashier asked.

"No, he still has to order," Leah remarked, smirking when she stepped away from the counter.

"I'm not paying for all of that shit, Clearwater. Kim's croissant, Sam's fritters and ONE of whatever you want, but nothing else," Paul growled, no longer amused.

A brief verbal scuffle broke out between them, the Alpha's imprint leaving everyone's ears burning when she finally finished telling Paul off before changing her order and stepping away so Paul could finish his own.

"I'd like three powdered sugar, three chocolate, three blueberry, three glazed and then another dozen of random ones; maybe include a jelly, Bavarian, and maple. Oh, and two milks," Paul added as an afterthought.

Once everyone was seated at a table, Paul opened one of the boxes of doughnuts up, waiting for his urchin to choose what she wanted. She looked frozen to the spot.

"Here," Paul said, handing her a chocolate and a blueberry doughnut, classics as far as he was concerned. He chose the same for himself and had demolished them before his urchin had even tasted one of hers.

Leah dominated most of the conversation, talking to Kim about places to go beyond Port Angeles to shop. Not as far as Seattle, but there were a few nice sized towns located past the Port. Paul didn't really care either way. If they had to drive further to obtain the necessary items, so be it. However, his ass was not about to make ten fucking different stops just to end back up at the first store because they had already found what they were looking for.

His girl only ended up eating part of the chocolate doughnut and none of the blueberry. Paul didn't know if it was due to preference, or because she was full, the thought only bothering him more. How was he to learn what she liked if he couldn't make out any type of patterns?

"So, we'll start there and then figure out our best bet for the rest," Leah finished explaining to Kim and Urchin, despite the latter's lack of attention.

"Hey, Urchin," Paul requested quietly when she realized they were about to leave. "Put the rest of your doughnuts back in the box. You can eat them later, okay?" he suggested, wanting to high five his own ass when he had read her hesitation correctly.

She didn't have a jacket on to smuggle food out, her mannerisms fretful at the thought of throwing away perfectly good food. Her eyes stayed glued to the box when Paul did the task for her as if she'd never see a doughnut again. Paul really fucking hoped she'd give him another smile when they got home later and he let her have them back. Or maybe on the drive home. Leah was a stickler for not eating in her car and she'd gnash her teeth in the entire drive back to La Push, knowing even Sam would call her out for not letting an underfed homeless chick eat in her car.

_She has a home_, his wolf whined repetitively, making Paul grin just a little bit more

Leah pulled into the parking lot of a general merchandise store. Port A was certainly bigger than Forks, but it didn't have a lot of shopping places; not like Seattle.

"Come on, Urchin. Let's go get you some stuff that fits," Paul offered, holding his girl's hand and walking towards the entrance.

The closer they got to the door, the closer she inched towards Paul until he almost couldn't walk unless he wanted to trip them both. He could swing her in front of him, but they probably wouldn't move very far or fast judging from her slowing pace.

He didn't want to pull away from her; not when she obviously felt like she required his presence. Fuck, if he tried that -and not that he wanted to- his wolf would phase to kick him out of the way and be everything his urchin needed.

In the entryway, his girl jumped and cowered a little when a motion activated Halloween figure popped up from its display, cackling wildly.

"I can't believe it's almost Halloween," Kim cried out excitedly. The girl lived for any and all holiday celebrations, but the pack had made Halloween an exceptionally enjoyable occasion.

"Me, either," Leah agreed. Walking over to a display of candy, she casually sorted through the bin, too full to think about seriously buying some.

Once they were actually inside past the festive displays and his imprint was all but standing on his foot, Leah turned around to smile at 'Arial'. "This won't be as fun as it will be next month in Seattle, but we're not leaving until you have a ton of clothes."

Paul simply arched a brow at that statement, feeling Leah tug his girl away and hustle her further into the store, both Kim and Leah talking more than enough to make up for his urchin's silence.

Grabbing a cart, Paul figured he had some time to kill and could pick up a few things he had made a mental list of, yesterday's physical one having been swallowed to hide the heart doddle accident.

Paul Lahote with a shopping cart was a scary sight to behold. Walking directly down the middle of every aisle, his long arms would reach out to scoop whatever he wanted into the cart. He kind of looked like the Terminator choosing weapons as he tossed in sheets, blankets, an area throw rug —people dove out of the way when he didn't even slow the cart to choose that item—a utility box, a toothbrush, shampoo, conditioner—Leah had ranted for twenty minutes about the importance of that—a nicer, softer hairbrush, detangler…the shit never ended, Paul thought bemusedly.

He bypassed the make-up and shit, his urchin didn't need that crap, and continued on, thinking about what he would need for the utility box to transform it into a first aid kit. In the band aid aisle, he stared open mouthed at the multitude of sizes, shapes, colors and textures of the shitters. Little round ones for small cuts; funky ass shaped ones to wrap around knuckles; water proof and medical ones for blisters and then…each of the fucking ones still had differences: plastic, paper, cloth, adhesive, non-adhesive, hypoallergenic.

Refraining from slapping himself over the idiocy at not knowing what would work best, he decided to choose based on unity. Whatever company made the most choices of shape, he'd go with that.

The plan became flawed when there were more choices to be made: cloth sponges, absorbent and non absorbent gauze and the most practical but fucked up fuckers: butterflies. They were the smallest damn things he had ever seen, but promised to hold suture type cuts closed, kind of like a replacement for stitches.

Paul threw four boxes of the butterflies into the cart, mentally praying he never had to open a single fucking one for his urchin.

The rest of the aisles in this area of the store held a multitude of medical crap from antacids—Paul fucking wished his urchin ate enough to get an upset stomach—to analgesics. He threw five different types of that shit in his cart.

The very last aisle in this section of the store made Paul freeze, gulp uncontrollably and a cold-sweat break out on the back of his neck: girly feminine shit.

_There were more choices here than there had been with the fucking band-aids._

Reminding himself that this was a natural part of his urchin's life, Paul pushed forward, staring straight ahead and not trying to look like a fucking pervert staring at cotton plugs. Letting his wolf memories surface, he tried to recall if any of the others bought this type of shit for their girls.

A fragment of a subdued memory erupted, a small green box. Paul reached for the literal one quickly, pausing when a second image appeared: a larger pink box. That, too, was here in the aisle and he debated, trying not to growl in panic when another image formed, a dark blue package.

"Pink? It's pretty fucking girly. Shit! Something about a lot of comfort with the blue one…the green ones are preferred? Oh, fuck me!" Paul snarled in hopelessness.

The goddamn memories of other imprint choices were there at his disposal, but no two were alike. The images kept coming at him like a tampon tsunami. Pads, panty liners…what on this god fucking earth were wings?

Buckling down hard, Paul backed up his cart to start the torturous aisle over. He was going to use the manufacturer plan again and chose six or seven items, failing miserably at attempting to look inconspicuous while hiding the products under his other shit.

Less than thirty minutes and he was off to find his girl and the harpies helping her.

"Where are her clothes?" Paul asked as he came to rest beside the girls staring at shoes. None of them had anything in their hands and that made Paul worry. He forgot all about his goddamn worry when Urchin stepped closer to him, once again trying to plaster herself to his side.

"We're picking out shoes," Leah mumbled, holding two different pairs of boots. Both had heels high enough to kill a stilt walker.

"Not those," Kim commented, pointing to the taller, black colored pair of height death. "If you go with the black ones, then we're going to be limited on what color pants we can buy. Plus, black is so traditional. Unless we're buying boots for a dress up occasion, it's passé."

"Did any of you bother to ask-" Paul tried to question, only to be completely fucking ignored. His gaze fell back to his urchin who looked really uncomfortable and kept turning her head in every direction as other shoppers walked by.

"I know," Leah sighed exasperatedly, "but the mink colored ones have a shorter heel. Arial Is already kind of short and standing next to the Jolly Furry Giant, known as Paul, she's going to be lost."

Kim smiled knowingly. At five foot six inches tall, she was the midget of the imprints…or had been until Paul brought his home. Even Leah, who was the tallest girl at five foot eleven, looked small next to the wolves and all of them felt dwarfed.

"True, but now that we're here, we can figure out what size she needs, pick up a pair or two to get her through until next month and then go to a specialty store in the city," Kim said consolingly before brightening up with another idea. "And, with knowing her size, we could always look online and order her something more in style."

Bella hadn't realized that she inched closer to the Paul man, or that she had done so more than once today. When she felt her fingers accidentally brush his denim clad leg, she froze. He didn't say anything; he wasn't even looking at her, but at the Leah woman trying to get her in trouble.

She couldn't own funny shoes like they were looking at! Those things would not allow for Bella to be able to run quickly and even if they did, they were much too fancy. If anyone in the Underground saw her wearing shoes like that, they wouldn't even wait until she slept before trying to take them. Like the mean man that had taken her Swiss Army knife, someone would beat her up, maybe even kill her and then take her shoes. Probably her warm fuzzy socks, too, if she still had them.

As nice as the Paul man had been so far, he wouldn't want to keep her forever. A couple of months and he'd get mean —hopefully not until spring—and make her leave. The idea of leaving made her feel funny in a bad way and Bella didn't like it.

She inched away this time, in the other direction from where these people were talking about shoes. Checking the distance again, Bella could see she was a normal distance away from the Paul man. A few more casual side sweeps and Bella stopped to see if anyone had noticed. She didn't know where she was going exactly and they'd find her easily enough, but she felt uncomfortable with the frequent gasps and squeals the Leah and Kim lady were making.

Looking to her side, she tried not to gasp herself. She knew she had moved at least two arm span's distance, maybe even three and yet the Paul man was still next to her, his long leg just a finger stretch away. Craning her head up slowly, Bella could see his face pinched tightly, lips drawn into a thin line. His eyes suddenly shot down to hers, his face relaxing and a small smile quirking the corners of his mouth.

"They're going to be here for at least an hour, Urchin. Do you want to just pick out a pair you like and then we'll get some other things?" The Paul man asked her. He nodded his head towards other shoes and Bella turned to stare at them before looking back open mouthed at the man.

He kept smiling at her, waiting for her to move and make a decision. Occasionally he'd cringe when the Leah or Kim woman would squeal loudly, but mostly he smiled at Bella making her think this was another test. The demons had always hurt her privately, but she had watched real people. In public they'd smile and look okay and then take the person they were mad at behind a building or something to start yelling or hitting. She didn't want to give the Paul man any reason to do this later at his house.

Bella tried to keep one eye on him to make sure he was serious as she went to choose a simpler, less fancy type of shoe. Boots were completely out of the question, even simple goulashes. Any type of walking or running shoe was equally unacceptable as they would be comfortable and something fellow Undergrounders would want. On a bottom shelf of clearance items, Bella picked up a pair of simple, plain grey clothed tennis shoes.

"Urchin…" The Paul man said quietly. "Those won't work. It's probably going to snow in a few weeks and your little feet will freeze in those."

A large pair of wide eyes stared at the Paul man before darting to a side display of socks. She knew the shoes wouldn't be as warm as a pair of sneakers, but socks helped a lot and she could probably smuggle a few pairs he had if need be.

"No, Urchin. Ten minutes outside with even two pairs of socks and those shoes and you could end up with frost bite," the man explained.

Bella tried not to huff at that. She knew what frost was and she had spent a lot of time trying to avoid the stuff. Socks were definitely the answer.

"Here, try these," he told her, grabbing a pair of light brown hiking boots. "They have wide traction on the bottom and are insulated to trap heat."

She could only stare at him in confusion. Did the Paul man want to make sure she was shoeless when he finally sent her away? Her only hope was to accept the mini boots, hide the shoes she had and be lucky enough to be allowed to take them with her.

Bella hid her disappointment and reluctantly tried on the pair he had placed on a bench. They fit perfect; a little too perfectly for her liking. She looked over the Paul man's shoulder to the row he had chosen them from and hopped over one footed to grab a different pair.

"What's wrong? They looked like they fit right; were they too tight?" He was staring at her unclad foot and then at the boot in her hand, his frown growing.

Using the boot not on her foot, Bella held it up to other shoes, looking for a pair that was bigger before he did something like hold her own shoes against the side of her foot. Bella knew they were a little longer than need be, but sometimes it was good to have an extra place to hide food or coins. Most people wouldn't dream of searching her shoes.

"The one on your foot is a five; try five and a half," the Paul man said still frowning.

Bella could count somewhat, but she had no idea what a five and a half meant and it must have shown. The Paul man reached over and grabbed another pair, patting the seat she had just left. Gosh he had long arms. He hadn't even left the bench he was sitting on.

"Sit down and try them on, Urchin," he encouraged his girl. "I guess the lining is thicker than I thought since I was sure the first pair would fit."

Four fittings later and Bella was informed by the Paul man that he had been correct; the five boot was what had fit best and were now sitting in the cart.

"Leah," Paul interrupted the still talking females, "Give me your keys, so I can go pay for this stuff and load it in your truck. Then I'll-"

"—Paul!" she cut off impatiently. "We haven't even decided on shoes yet and we still have to buy Arial some clothes. God, could you be any more impatient?"

"-Then I'll come back in to help Urchin pick out some clothes. You two have been yammering away like a pair of geese and didn't even bother to notice we've already decided on shoes."

"What? Which pair?" Marching over to the cart, Leah looked in to see what he was talking about. "Paul, those are really, really, fucking ugly. Do you want Arial to feel like she was dressed by a blind douche?"

"Nooooo," Paul answered slowly and sarcastically. "I'd like my urchin's feet not to freeze the second she steps out of the fucking house. I'd also like her to have a pair of shoes that won't send her sprawling on her ass the first time she mistakenly steps on a patch of ice. And above all else, I'd like to make these damn decisions before we're all hovering around on hydro-boards because shoes are no longer worn. Now can I please have your damn keys?"

Digging into her purse, Leah kept glaring at Paul. "You're such a pushy dick, Paul. I bet you just want to eat another fucking dozen doughnuts. Do you always get this shitty when you're hungry?"

"Yes," Paul agreed, catching the keys Leah tossed his way. "Now if you don't mind, can you help her pick out something other than shoes? I'd like to leave here before sunrise tomorrow."

Bella stood off to the side, listening to the exchange wide eyed. The Kim girl looked uncomfortable, but that Leah person was going to make the Paul man mad and then he'd probably take his aggression out on her when they got home. She really hoped the Leah lady would hush before he got madder.

When the Paul man turned back to face Bella, she tried not to cower at the expected hostility he would have. He wasn't glaring at her and even looked hurt when she slouched down.

"Okay, Urchin, I'm going to go pay for the stuff," he started to say before changing his mind. "Actually…" reaching into the cart, he pulled the shoes back out and tore off the plastic ring holding them together along with the tags which he set back in the cart. "Go put these on now since we're going to get them."

Staring dumbly at the shoes in her hand, she looked back to the Paul man trying to understand what he meant.

"It's okay; I'm about to pay for them. Go put them on and throw away the ones you're wearing. They're as useless as an Amish person with a computer," Paul snarked.

Bella wished he had told her she could keep the other shoes. If nothing else, she could've used them as a means of trade in the Underground.

In a world where warmth and survival were top priority, not much else was sought after more. Money to a degree, but even then, you had to be somewhat clean to use it at the stores and you definitely had to have shoes to even get in the stores. The Paul man had basically thrown away a paycheck in Bella's eyes.

With the new boots on, the Paul man had stooped down to adjust the laces, giving her a happy smile as he finally left Bella alone with the other girls. She watched him disappear around a display before turning her attention back to a waiting Leah.

"Come on, Arial. Sorry I couldn't save you from Paul's fashion retardedness, but I'll make it up to you buy helping you choose great clothes, okay?" With her hand held out, Bella took it gingerly.

The looks of determination on Kim and Leah's faces scared her more than any she had yet to see on the Paul man's.

* * *

><p>"How about this one?"<p>

"OH! This is a great color for her. What size did you say?"

"She's so small; she can definitely pull that type of outfit off. If I tried to wear a skirt like that, I'd look like a pig rolling around under a blanket."

"Red lace or black lace?"

"Black! Definitely black with maybe a red satin bra if they have any here like that. Paul would go nuts!"

Bella found herself backing away from the constant chattering women determined to make her try on everything in the store. She wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but she knew they had already picked up too many things: two pairs of jeans, a few shirts, and a sweater, all of which Bella held tightly to her chest, waiting for the Paul man to come back and yell.

Her face had turned bright red when Kim had handed her some frilly underwear and not just a couple of pairs but almost an armful with matching bras. Luckily Leah had distracted Kim with some type of nightgown and Bella had hastily ditched the undergarments into the middle of a nearby clothes rack, backing away before she could be caught.

"Miss?" A rude voice asked from behind Bella, causing her to spin around unexpectedly. "Were you planning on paying for those?"

The angry looking man must be the owner here, Bella thought, trying not to panic. She couldn't see or hear the Leah and Kim person to help out. Her eyes dropped to the clothes she still had and then looked back up, unsure of what to do.

His eyes dropped to the floor also, his voice getting uglier by the second. "You can't wear things before paying for them. You either go pay for those shoes now or take them off. Otherwise, I'm going to call the cops."

As soon as this person said "cops" Bella moved into action. Dropping to the ground, the first tear slide down her cheek as she struggled to remove the new shoes. The Paul man had secured the bows firmly, her shaking fingers unable to release the necessary knots to allow enough room for her foot to slip out.

"Why are you down there, Urchin? The Paul man's voice boomed from several feet away and gaining in volume. "Leah and Kim are on the other side of the store looking at jack-"

His voice cut off when she dared to look at him timidly. She hadn't meant to cause problems and now she was doubly in trouble from both him and the store owner.

"Hey, what are you doing?" he asked again, coming to kneel down beside her and oblivious to the scary looking store guy. The caring look he had froze when he saw another tear make its way down her cheek. "Shit, does your hip still hurt? Fuck, I thought you might've been limping. Here, hold onto to my arms and I'll stand you up. Do you want to try to walk or should I carry-"

"Sir, please step away. Unless you wish to be considered an accomplice, this girl needs to take off the shoes she was trying to walk out of here with, without paying for them."

Bella watched in terror as the Paul man slowly turned his head to notice the store guy. In one swift movement he was back on his feet and facing the owner.

The Paul man would never believe that Bella had not stolen something; she was a street urchin after all and no one ever believed them.

"That girl, as you so rudely refer to her, doesn't need to prove anything to you. I already paid for the shoes before I took some bulky items out to our car." Paul never broke eye contact with the salesperson when his hand pulled a receipt out of his front pocket.

"Here's the proof. Go ask the clerk if you don't believe me. She'll tell you that I only had the tags since I wanted my girlfriend to wear the shoes now."

The Paul man was getting louder with every word and people were starting to stare. Clumsily, Bella rose to her feet, unsure as to what she should do. If she still had her old shoes, she would've run out the door as soon as the owner had spoken to her, but being caught with the new shoes on her feet meant she had to give them back. The Leah and Kim lady suddenly appeared.

"What's going on?" Leah demanded, looking in pity at Bella.

Paul pointed to the clothes Bella had dropped on the floor. "Please go pay for that stuff, Leah. I need to take Urchin and get the fuck out of here before I lose my temper." Still straining menacingly at the clerk, Paul dug out his wallet to toss at Leah. "We'll meet you out at the truck."

Paul's left hand lifted from his side, the fingers uncurling to beckon Bella to approach. Knowing she had no choice, Bella shuffled her way in that direction, not daring to look up. When her fingers grazed the Paul man's, he wrapped his hand around hers to lead them outside.

"Don't be sad, Urchin," Paul spoke up, relieved to be outside and away from the fucking asshole, wannabe shop cop who had accused him of theft. "You did nothing wrong, that man was just an obnoxious prick."

Unlocking the passenger side door, Paul picked her up, setting her in the seat and automatically reaching for the seatbelt. When it clicked, he grabbed her hands, hoping to warm them up.

His girl was sending out all sorts of mixed signals and both Paul and his wolf were feeling a bit crazed. At least she hadn't cried, not really. To distract himself, Paul stared at her new shoes. They looked cute on her and he hoped she liked them. He had remembered to dry her socks from last night and figured the material was probably too thick to be comfortable in the boots.

When her fingers twitched, Paul looked up suddenly, wondering if she needed something. His own hands slowed their movements, waiting and watching as she duplicated his actions on a smaller scale. She let him clasp one hand and pulled the other out to lie atop his.

"Yeah, we're okay," he said mostly to himself, holding on to her for another minute before carefully pulling back to shut the door and get in on the other side to wait for Leah and Kim.

* * *

><p>At the next store, the girls were exceptionally quiet as Paul hovered close by, glaring at any associate who even dared to look their way. Bella stood between them as they mumbled quietly over a large display of sweaters.<p>

"Paul, do you think the blue one or green one would look better on Arial?" Kim asked, holding the sweaters up in front of Bella.

Wide-eyed, Bella looked at the Paul man, wondering if he had a preference. Out of those two choices, she was partial to the sky blue sweater versus the Kelly green one, but it wasn't her decision to make as she had tried to inform the Kim lady when asked earlier which one she preferred.

"The blue is kind of pretty, but I think the green would go better with those pants we bought her," Leah volunteered, studiously studying the colors.

"Which one do you want, Urchin?" Paul asked ignoring the other imprints.

Surprised at being asked, Bella carefully looked at the Paul man. She did like the blue one and as her hand hovered over another sweater on the display in the same color, his expression told her nothing. Carefully she moved her hand over a red one, a white one, a purple one and then halted over a pink one. It was really, really pretty and Bella liked it far more than the blue one. Lowering her hand to grab the sweater, she looked back to the man, watching his blank expression start to frown.

That was a bad sign.

Just as carefully she pulled back and continued her hovering exploration, finally stopping over a medium grey one when the Paul man started to smile.

"Arial, that's too mundane. What about this cinnamon colored one?" Leah asked grabbing a new sweater and causing the Paul man's frown to deepen.

The Leah woman was not threatening and Bella had no hesitation whatsoever about shaking her head no. She snatched the grey sweater up and clung to it.

"There's your answer, Leah," Paul answered for his girl. "She wants that one. Are we done?"

"She still needs a coat and lingerie," Leah informed him haughtily.

"Leah," Paul said warningly, "Urchin does not need skank clothes. We'll get a coat, but that's it."

"I meant underwear and bras, you ass! Plus she probably needs pajamas and socks."

Kim shook her head in disagreement. "We bought her underwear and bras at the other place."

"Yeah, I thought we had, too, but they weren't in the pile I paid for," Leah argued back.

"For fuck's sake! Does it matter? Go get her what she needs quickly. I'll take her to pick out some pj's and socks and you two meet us there," Paul snarled, unwilling to think about his urchin's underwear. Those types of thoughts would get him in more trouble than it was worth.

He led the small girl to an area of socks, randomly picking up various plushy ones. On the way to pajamas, he also snagged a pair of slippers for her. The night clothes shopping wasn't as bad as he had expected. This store had divided the practical away from the sexy and impractical and his girl never shook her head when he picked out some equally fluffy and plushy pj's.

Back in the coat section, Paul watched avidly as Leah placed a thick woolen lined coat on his urchin. It was caramel colored, ended at the bottom of her ass and cinched tightly in the middle, hiding nothing.

The coat was a piece of perfection for his urchin, illustrating once again what a beautiful woman she was. He could care less about the cost as he fingered the collar; smiling happily at the thought of how warm it could keep her until Leah's voice broke the solitude.

"That is a great coat for everyday wear. Now you need some gloves and a hat to keep the rest of you warm, maybe even a scarf. Paul, do you have an umbrella Arial would be able to use, or do we have to buy one of those too?"

"Why does she need an umbrella?" Paul asked, half dazed. He really liked how his urchin looked in that coat!

"In light snow the coat would be okay, but if it's sleeting, or more than a medium rain, something more would be required," Leah explained, much to his disappointment.

In the end, Paul bought his urchin a nylon ski jacket. The material would protect his girl from wetness and offered just as much protection as the wool one had, plus it had a built in hood. It wasn't like he planned to have his girl outside during a fucking blizzard, but if a strong wind was blowing, a hat could be lost easily. Not so with an attached hood.

Paul waited this time before the cashier handed him the receipt and then ripped off the tags to the jacket. He shoved the receipt in one of the pockets before bundling his urchin up. Not a lot of people were wearing coats like this yet, but she was fucking tiny and always felt cold to him.

After a late lunch at a nearby fast food place, Paul happily climbed into the backseat next to his urchin. He felt like a fucking mountain had been lifted off his shoulders now that he had stuff she needed. Ten minutes into the drive home and she was snoozing against the window, her head lightly tapping against the glass when the SVU hit a bump in the road. Paul let that shit happen once before he slid closer to her side and gently tipped her body against his side, manipulating the hood of her coat to use as padding.

It was strange how easily his urchin relaxed against him when she slept and was unaware of her surroundings. Resting his chin lightly on top of her head, Paul hoped she'd soon be as comfortable with him when she was awake, too.


	15. Chapter 14

The Paul man had looked really happy to Bella when she woke up from her nap, pulling into his driveway of his house.

Like, really, really, happy.

Still not quite awake, Bella only partially eeped when he pulled her from the truck to set gently on the ground. He released her quickly enough, but his hands still hovered nearby until she was steady. Even the Leah and Kim ladies held expressions of surprise when he started to whistle as he unloaded the trunk.

Once everything had been dumped inside and he said goodbye to the others, he gently unzipped Bella's coat to hang up in the closet.

"I'm going to go downstairs and wash your new sheets and comforter, okay, Urchin?" He explained, digging through the numerous bags to locate the sheets and rip them open. "I'll come back up to take your stuff into your room. Just have a seat."

She didn't want to sit down. She wanted to find the box of doughnuts and grab a couple to hide. Once Bella was sure Paul was in the cellar, she tiptoed over to the mountain of bags, hastily rearranging the piles to find the one holding the treats. Using a piece of the plastic the Paul man had ripped off the sheets, she wrapped two new doughnuts and then snuck over to where he had hung up her new coat. It had nice big pockets and she slid the treats inside, backing away before he came upstairs.

The Paul man was fast. She didn't hear him on the stairs and gulped nervously when he was suddenly standing in front of her.

"You okay, Urchin? You look nervous," he said, one hand cupping her cheek.

_Had she lost herself? She didn't even see him move!_

Regardless, Bella nodded anyways, anxious to get away from her hidden cache. In hopes of distracting the Paul man while not angering him, she didn't pull away from his hand, but she did try to move to pick up some of the bags. Maybe if they put the stuff away, he wouldn't continue to think something was wrong.

"Yeah, you're right," Paul said, interpreting her movements. "We should put this shit away. Here, let me." Picking up a large portion of the packages, he started to walk towards the bedrooms, a hesitant Urchin trailing behind empty handed.

Dumping everything on her bed, his eyebrows knitted in thought. "I guess I forgot about putting a dresser or some shit in here." Turning around he looked directly at Bella. "I'll go get you some hangers for most of it and then you can use a laundry basket for the rest."

He left and returned before Bella could even process what he was talking about. The plastic bags would hold the stuff nicely and she could just as easily put those in the closet.

"You know what?" he asked, coming back in with a handful of hangers he laid on the bed. "This can wait for now. Let me show you the rest of the stuff I got for you."

Curious as to what else she could possibly need, Bella followed Paul back to the entryway, watching as he grabbed most of the other bags and then proceeded to his room.

"Until I can get the other bathroom up and working, we're gonna have to share mine. Don't worry about disturbing me, though. Anytime you need to do something, feel free to do so, okay?"

Bella nodded her head, but he wasn't looking at her. It was almost as if he really meant what he said. She knew better than to assume she could just wander into his room whenever she felt like it. This was his cubby—a really big cubby—but he still probably expected privacy. That was one limit Bella had no intention of testing.

"So, I figured you probably didn't have a preference…Shit!" The Paul man gave her a weird look. "I'm sorry, Urchin. I probably should've asked what you wanted, huh? I bought you your own type of soap and shampoo and shit. You can use it, or if you really fucking hate it, just let me know and we'll get you something else."

Bella wondered if she was dreaming, watching him pull out a lot of different things: hairbrush, toothbrush, soap…

He paused after sitting a few weird boxes down, mumbling the words "girly shit" and causing Bella to almost smile. Those things were a luxury Undergrounders never even thought about. Aside from comfort and convenience, they did nothing to help prolong a life. It would be a lot different than the usual napkins Bella had to procure once in awhile.

"So that's it," he finished some time later, showing Bella the weird box he was piecing together filled with band aids and stuff. "I'll, uhh, put the shampoo and crap in the shower for you. I'm sure you saw the rug I bought, so we don't have any more accidents in there, okay?"

Still dazed, Bella just nodded, overwhelmed by the amount of things he thought she needed. He must really plan on keeping her for awhile, a thought she was somewhat happy with. Cautiously she lowered herself onto the edge of his bed, a slight wince of discomfort from being on her sore hip all day.

"Urchin?" he questioned, walking closer to her. "Do you need something?"

_She had to prove her worth!_ With all of the confidence she could muster, Bella shook her head no. There really wasn't anything she needed and her hip would be okay. She just needed to think about something else.

The Paul man didn't believe her. "Come on, don't lie to me. I thought we already went over this. What's wrong?"

His eyes said he was worried, not mad, and reluctantly Bella decided it would be better to just let him know rather than hide her pain and risk future anger. With a small gesture, she pointed to her hip and then dropped her hand quickly, just in case it really wasn't okay to tell him.

"Lie down," the Paul man instructed.

_Uh oh._ Suddenly Bella wished she hadn't felt like sharing so much information. _Had she been right before and he did like to see people in pain. Maybe he was going to…_

Bella didn't have time to ponder what his intentions were. The Paul pushed against her shoulder, causing her to fall back on the mattress. Her gasp came after he had made his move. She wasn't expecting him to tug at her waistband the second she was horizontal.

"Jesus, that's a nasty ass looking bruise," he remarked quietly before lifting his gaze to meet hers. "Does it hurt as bad as it did last night?"

Bella shook her head and then squeaked when he picked up her legs and twisted her body to lie out completely on the bed.

_Oh no. Oh no. Oh no. Oh no_.

"You should probably just rest for now," Paul said, attributing her increased shaking to pain. "I don't know how I could've been such a dick and insist we go traipsing all over the fucking state today."

Bella continued to shake her head no, from shock, denial and preference. She didn't want to stay in here and not move about. That would only make it hurt worse later when she did have to get up. Plus, her lying on a bed might give him ideas.

"Yes, Urchin, you should," he said, moving to unlace her new shoes. "Any type of movement you make is going to stretch the skin around your hip and the bruise will only get worse and hurt like a bitch."

Tugging off her boots, the Paul man let them thunk to the floor before he sat down to loosen his own laces. "I'll turn on some music and we can make a grocery list. I want to make sure I buy stuff you like and that way you won't be bored resting in here, okay?"

Bella wasn't so sure about that. Did people normally lie down to make grocery lists? Something seemed off to her. She tried not to stare in terror when he took off his own shoes. The quickies always left those on.

If the Paul man noticed her shaking fear he ignored it, stretching out next to her and sitting up against the wall with a pillow behind him instead of prone like she was. Reaching over to a table that was nowhere close to the bed, he grabbed a notepad and pen, hastily tearing off several sheets that already had words. Bella didn't see him turn anything on, yet just the same the room filled with music.

_Maybe he was going to use it to block the sounds…? _Bella wondered if she could make it to the door before he did. Subtly eyeing the table he had grabbed the paper from, she realized that his arms were long enough to grab her without him having to even move. She was trapped.

"Can you cook, Urchin?" Paul asked her, balling up the discard lists of phone numbers he had collected and then lobbing them into a small waste bin.

Her eyes looked up to meet his smiling ones. "It doesn't matter if you can't. I just thought if there was something you'd like to make we could get the stuff."

Once the pad held a fresh sheet of paper, the Paul man gave her a friendly smile. He wasn't upset at all that she didn't know how to cook. "I'm not a picky eater, myself, so I'll just randomly spout off meals and if there's something you don't like, just tap me."

Once again, Bella froze. Things were moving entirely too fast for her to process. Wasn't he going to…? As much as she didn't want to be hurt, this was not how things happened. She knew once her guard was down, the pain would come.

The only thing Bella could do was stop thinking about when he was going to react and just relax. She'd get beat up and hurt back in the Underground and at least here, she was warm and fed. Better to just go along and get whatever benefits she could from the situation. Whenever he made his move, he had bought band aids to fix her up. She could take it.

"So, let's see. Pizza, spaghetti—I know you like that, we already had it—hamburgers, sandwiches, steak—oh man, I would kill for a nice New York strip or porterhouse—pork chops, lasagna—although, I don't think I can make that shit, but they sell frozen ones—tacos, chicken—speaking of which, Emily made us some type of chicken dish. She's a great cook."

He had been writing the entire time and Bella could only imagine how much all of that stuff might cost. Did he really intend on buying all of it? Trying not to stare, she briefly closed her eyes, listening to the fast paced scratching sound of the pen. She was better able to identify food when she saw it, most words for meals a bit foreign to her. The Paul man didn't seem to notice.

When the noise cut off, she opened her eyes again to meet his. He was still kind of smiling and Bella breathed slowly, hoping to keep it that way.

"What about snacks? I think it was Sue who mentioned feeding you plenty of fruits and veggies," Paul said, smiling quickly before turning back to his list. "Claudia mostly only eats that type of shit. Funny as fuck that she's basically married to a carnivore, but eats like a vegetarian. The Forks grocery store doesn't have a real big selection of plants and crap, but we can get the basics like apples, oranges, berries, sometimes they even have pineapples-"

The Paul man cut himself off when Bella moved her hand to lightly scrape against his leg.

"What? You don't like pineapples?" He asked, his pen hovering over the list to scratch it off.

Bella shrugged her shoulders. Pineapples sounded familiar, but not what she had meant to disagree over. It was apples that she really didn't like. The more she thought about it, though, the more she wished she hadn't bothered to indicate that. She'd eat apples if need be and couldn't understand what had driven her to even hint at disliking something the Paul man was going to get her for free. Instead, she moved her hand back to her hip, wondering if she had rested long enough to get back up.

Laying the pad aside, he dropped the pen as well, rolling to his side to stare at Bella. He looked like he knew she was lying about the fruit, but he didn't accuse her. Her eyes did enlarge when the Paul man unexpectedly answered her thought.

"I don't know. We've only been resting for about an hour. Does it still hurt?" Pointing to her hip, the Paul man's voice gave her no indication of what a correct response should be.

Bella was pretty sure her hip would hurt for a few more days at least. If he meant was it as tender and uncomfortable as it had been when she first sat down, the answer was no, which she indicated. Street people did not have time to coddle silly injuries.

"We also haven't finished the list," Paul commented, restraining himself from outlining her hip. _Damn,_ _what he wouldn't give for his tongue to be effective in bruise healing._ "Well, you'll go with me and then you can just grab whatever you want and put it in the cart," he absentmindedly decided, wondering if visions of his imprint naked were a blessing or a curse.

Shaking his head to clear _those_ thoughts, he realized what he had just said. "You know, I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner. That'd be easier, huh? When we're at the store, I can just load the cart and if there's anything you don't like, you can take it out."

Rolling off the bed, Paul stood up. Walking over to her side of the bed –her side? Jesus Christ, had he made that leap already?—he grasped her waist well above her hips to lift up. Once she was standing on two feet he backed away to see if she still suffered from trembling pain or agony. One fucking twitch and he'd have his urchin flat on her back faster than a vampire could stink.

Bella didn't flinch, but held perfectly still, feeling the beginning tightness form in her sore hip. She needed to move around, sit down and stand up frequently so the ache would go away. With determination, she walked out of his room, failing to notice the Paul man's hands hovering in preparation to swoop in and save her if need be.

Dinner was a frozen pizza that Bella both loved and didn't. It tasted really good, but it was too difficult to try and snag an extra piece to hide away. Apparently the Paul man really liked it, too. When dinner was over, there were no extra pieces. Bella had missed the chance.

"I'm going to pick up this stuff," Paul told her, waving to the dishes and napkins. "I don't know if you should be standing up on your sore hip long enough to put your clothes away. If you want, you can sit on the bed and put the shit on hangers and then I'll hang them up for you when I'm done, okay?"

Bella waited until he moved first before making her way to her room. She could only stare at the clothes the Paul man had purchased her. True, he hadn't wanted her to have anything in soft colors and at first she had been a bit sad, but quickly forced that emotion away. She couldn't be picky. He had bought this stuff for her and he hadn't asked for anything in return.

She was amazed to see four bags full of brand new clothes. Despite being present when the stuff was picked out, she still found it hard to believe he had bought so much. It would take Bella years to wear through the five brand new pairs of pants, six if she counted the ones the Leah woman had given her last night.

Sadly, Bella sat down to remove the garments, eyeing them critically. Clothes to the Undergrounders were cherished but it was different than the shoes. Most wouldn't bother to try and steal the pants or sweaters she was wearing but they also wouldn't hesitate to raid her cubby and snag the ones she would need to store away. Another complication was her jacket. Like her boots, a person would easily risk attacking her to take it away, the protective heavy fabric almost as precious as food.

Pulling out each piece of clothing reverently, Bella tried to remember what she had seen at the stores, the way the clothes had been arranged on the hangers so she could duplicate it correctly. She couldn't remember how the pants had been hung and after several failed attempts, she realized that they were supposed to look different than the sweaters, although her attempt at knotting the legs together was wrong, too.

"Do you like everything?" The Paul man asked from the doorway, startling Bella's thoughts.

Dropping the hanger, she nodded giving him a smile and hoping he'd realize how nice this had been and that she was very happy to have clothes.

He returned her smile just as easily. "I brought your sheets and stuff," he said, walking in to dump the cleaned fabric next to her. "I'll make your bed for you. You can sit here." Picking up a surprised Bella, Paul placed her on the floor gently and then quickly ripped off the sheets and blanket currently covering her mattress.

When her bed was made again, he replaced her on top of it, picking up the hangers he had shoved to the floor and digging through the bags to hang up the remaining garments she had yet to tackle. Bella was shocked at how fast he worked.

"Why don't you get changed and then come out here to watch some TV with me?" He asked her, walking over to the closet and randomly placing some of the clothes inside. "Unless you want to do something else?" Turning back to face her, he smiled encouragingly, strolling back to get the last pile.

Confused, Bella looked down at her clothes. They were clean and she hadn't spilled anything. Why would she need to change? The Paul man started to chuckle and Bella began to worry she was missing something again.

"I don't think I've ever seen a chick put their pajamas on a hanger, Urchin." Picking up one of the garments, Bella watched as he removed the hanger from the soft, burgundy colored matching garment.

He ran his hand over the material before thrusting the clothes at her. "Put these on. I'll go hang this up for you and then you can change and come out into the living room."

Waiting until he had shut the door, Bella stood up to walk over to the closet. It wouldn't be much protection, but changing behind another set of doors seemed like a good idea, so she did. The closet was dark, but she could still see well enough to spot the ugly bruise on her hip. It wasn't exactly a new type of bruise for Bella. She had seen plenty of them on her body before that were dark and disfigured. This one, though, kind of made her eyes water in pain when she saw it and she quickly hid the injury beneath the soft pants before stepping out of the closet and back into the full light of the room.

Wandering back to the bed, she sat down to think over the events of the day. Despite the food, the gifts, the lack of receiving pain or punishment and the fact that the Paul man seemed happy, Bella realized what it all meant.

It was a test! This Paul man was waiting for her to make the effort to show appreciation. If she continued to shy away from the expected gratitude he obviously wanted, things would get bad. However, if Bella just automatically complied, the Paul man would be happy and maybe even keep her longer. It took her a long time, but eventually she gathered her courage to move forward with the plan and cautiously walked out to the living room.

He had changed into different pants, the kind Bella didn't usually see on people unless they were sleeping –people who had their own places to live and safe places to sleep- and had to come outside suddenly because they heard a noise. Staring was unavoidable and she realized how nice the Paul man looked, very healthy with his toned muscles and dark skin. His overall size still scared her, muscles adorning his arms and chest and bulging without tension.

Bella's gaze was intense as she made her way to the couch, sitting a few feet away from him and trying to gather the courage to scoot closer. He really liked it when she did that, acted first for contact.

She inched his way before stopping, not wanting him to get angry if she wasn't supposed to move when he was watching TV. The show had changed by the time Bella was sitting on the cushion directly next to him.

Paul was pleasantly surprised when his little urchin came shuffling out of her room to join him to watch some TV fairly quickly. They had been all over fucking Port A and she looked tired. He figured she'd crash within minutes of sitting in the near dark room and then he could properly cud—… lie next to her on the couch until it was time to go to bed.

He was stoic enough not to frown or whine when she sat a few feet away from him. Paul wished he could say the same for his goddamn wolf that wouldn't shut the fuck up in desolation over its imprint sitting further than in his lap.

Of course, the fucking smile bloomed all on its own once he realized she was inching closer. From any other person, the movement would look coy or planned, but not from his urchin. She wasn't doing any of that feminine wile shit, stretching to push out her chest or tossing her hair or giving sex looks. She barely looked towards Paul at all unless it was to make sure he wasn't getting any ideas.

At least, that's what Paul told himself as she finally stopped the hour long shifting process to get closer. Jesus, he had wanted to reach out and tug her closer from the first minute, but he knew that'd freak her out and Paul was determined not to fuck up this bonding moment.

There was a slight sense of fear from her accomplishment, Paul noted absentmindedly, but she was mostly determined and maybe a bit…was that pride? Shit, if he didn't think she'd dive for cover, he'd throw a damn party at her accomplishment.

Paul lost complete control of his wolf the second she made another move and leaned into his side, his left arm lifting automatically to sling over her shoulders and hug her gently. No thoughts or motives behind it, just an arm swinging to encircle its mate, comfortingly, protectively and assuredly. No one –Paul, or the wolf- paid a damn bit of attention to her increased heart beat or spike of fear once his arm was around her, his left hand coming to rest on her thigh and casually brushing his fingers over the top in a nonsexual way.

It was damn near fifteen minutes before she finally relaxed and was leaning into him naturally. Paul was so fucking hypersensitive to her lying against him that when she turned her head, he had assumed it was in the beginning stages of sleep since her heart was a bit quickened and not the slow pattern of a true slumber. However, when her hand came to rest on top of his thigh, he was pretty fucking sure he may have come a little in his sleepwear, the moaning sigh of sexual excitement a release on its own.

For five whole fucking minutes, Paul relished the feel of her delicate hand on his leg. She wasn't moving or rubbing him but if felt fan-fucking-tastic to both him and the wolf. His ears and nose registered the spike of mood change before his mind could piece it together when his urchin shifted and then arched up to swing around and sit in his lap facing Paul.

He must have looked pretty fucking shocked as his imprint searched his eyes, his right hand clasping with his left behind her to keep her safely stationed. Whatever she saw might have frightened her, but Paul was beyond thinking and barley able to remember to bite his tongue and smother the next moan threatening to escape when she placed both hands on his chest.

His bared, tingling and panting chest.

Shit, direct skin to skin contact like this was almost too much for Paul. He liked to be caressed with assured hands, building up his sexual peak for pleasure. Urchin, though, was hesitant and shy, her hands there and a hundred times more titillating despite the stationary position.

The man was a goner and gave over control to the wolf, allowing the imprint ties to work a magic he had never experienced. It was both sexual and non-sexual, the anticipation buried deeply within the acceptance, whether she knew it or not.

His urchin finally moved and settled closer to him, her hands dropping dangerously close to his pelvic bone. With a shifting of her head, she nuzzled her cheek against him and then relaxed once more, making Paul think she had been sleep snuggling or some shit but not really giving a fuck because she was actually in his lap.

Paul wanted to turn the TV off and sit like this for the rest of fucking eternity. Shit that had to be allowed somewhere in the werewolf manual right? Her hands shifted again and this time Paul couldn't stop the moan, tiny fingers slipping beneath his pants to brush over his penis and then drop lower to stroke him.

Asleep or awake, Paul still whispered his appreciation. "Shit, Urchin, that feels good."

Throwing his head back in bliss, Paul closed his eyes as she did whatever the hell she wanted to do. He normally required a lot of friction for a hand job to feel this good, but her innocent explorative fingers were doing a number, igniting a need for release faster than Paul had thought possible. When the small pressure of her body shifted on his lap again, Paul loosened his arms, tightening his hands together in ecstasy. He hoped he'd have the ability to form a fucking sentence to let her know when he was going to blow.

Had it only been a few hours ago that Paul wished she would approach him? He couldn't remember anything before this time of having an imprint all of his own that wanted, needed and desired him. When the soft wetness of her lips sucking him finally hit his brain, Paul nearly choked the poor girl as his hips bucked on their own.

There was a crackle and fissure of wrongness to the action. His body told him to shut the fuck up. Getting head was never wrong! His mind, though, wouldn't stop sending out the thoughts. This was his imprint, a girl he didn't even know her real name, trying to…

His hips jerked again and Urchin pulled back slightly, still sucking him tightly in her mouth, but with her eyes focused on his face and as he watched her lips first and eyes second, the emotion behind them broke Paul out of his bliss.

She fucking reeked of fear and desperation.

"What are you doing?" Paul growled out in pain from the sensation of his cock being released from her mouth when he pushed her head away. The fear and desperation turned into a look of uncertainty his urchin now wore, laying away from him on the couch where he had kind of dumped and pushed her in shock.

Decorum suggested that Paul should probably tuck his dick back into his pants before grilling his girl, but he was barely lucky enough to have found a way to talk. Her eyes kept darting between Paul's look of shocked anger and his crotch, the realization that she had done something wrong blazing back to fear across her face.

"Why would you do that?" Paul asked in angered confusion. He refused to dwell on the reality. That his imprint had felt forced to pleasure him in a way he sure as hell wanted, but not like this. Not as a way to earn her keep. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew the truth, yet was unable to allow the disgusting fact to become real.

The patterns of being a human, the small intricacies that gave some people the upper hand of power at the expense of others, was a cycle when laid bared gave truth that humanity was anything but humane and Paul wanted to vomit. Instead, his own survival instincts kicked in and he buried the truth.

His urchin looked scared shitless, her face drained of all color and her large glassy eyes glued to him. She started to shuffle backwards, up the length of the couch until she hit an arm rest.

"I don't understand what this shit is all about," he yelled, lunging up the couch after her, hoping by some damn miracle he'd be able to understand her motives. _Fuck! Why was he questioning a girl giving him_ _oral?_ Shaking his head in confusion, he tried to decipher what the hell his urchin had been thinking. Her senses had gone to pure panic and he couldn't stop the trembling from either of them. Confused and hurt, Paul half-heartedly lunged for his girl again.

"Neeeh," his urchin yelled in full blown panic. Hurtling off the couch, only her left leg was on the ground, her right ankle hitting the coffee table as she propelled her body forward and causing her to land hard on her arms, trying to escape Paul's pursuit.

"Urchin!" Paul's panic skyrocketed, blinding him to everything that had completely gone wrong and to shit in the last thirty seconds. He hadn't wanted to grab her when she initially tried to run, worried that she'd hit her head on the table if he upset the momentum of her balance. That's what he told himself, as his mind blocked earlier realizations.

With her crawling and no more furniture to impact his goal, Paul launched himself over the space, tugging his pants up hastily as he did so and landing on all fours above her, trapping his terrified girl beneath his larger body.

"Just stop, please stop before you hurt yourself anymore," he cried out in pain at her distress.

Bending his head to press his lips into her exposed neck, she went completely still before collapsing beneath him, his right hand catching her head before it hit the floor. Sliding his hand away from her face and pulling back, he scrambled to the side of her, reaching out to turn her head where large glassy eyes stared at nothing, her breathing shallow pants.

_Dear god, what the fuck had he done?_

"Urchin? Hey, come on, Urchin," he requested, stroking the side of her cheek in hopes of a response. "I'm sorry I lost my shit, but I'm not mad at you," Paul pleaded, as he folded his legs underneath him to sit beside her.

This had to be like before, where she zoned out into her own little world, right? Something about this episode felt different, though. She was scared and the fear invaded Paul's body, a sour and acrid taste coating his mouth.

"Think Paul, think!" he yelled to himself, rocking back and forth slightly from nervous energy. His urchin was scared—obviously—but was this shock? Fuck, what the hell was he supposed to do to treat it? It wasn't like werewolf training included how to fix something like this. Whenever the wolves experienced something shocking, they ran it off and then ate, but Urchin had already eaten dinner.

Heat! Shocked people needed to feel comforted and warm. Paul may not know shit about comforting, but he could do warm. Turning her completely over so she was lying on her back, he picked her up to cradle her, giving as much contact as he could without making her feel suffocated.

"Come on, Urchin, breathe deeply; you're going to hyperventilate," Paul pleaded after a few minutes of no change from his imprint. She hadn't hit her head, he would have seen it if she had. Same with the possibility of her having broken a bone.

Paul had no idea how long he sat there, rocking his girl and muttering under his breath. Finally he stood straight up and carried his urchin to her room. He was going to put her to bed and wait one hour, no more. If after an hour she still hadn't changed, he would have no choice but to call Sue or even worse, take her to the hospital.

Back and forth he went from the far side of the room to her bed, counting the minutes, rearranging the covers, backing away to give her space, returning to caress her hair, turning around so as not to hover and then spinning right back around to drop to his knees and touch her cheeks, afraid he was losing her.

Fifty three minutes after she had collapsed, her eyes twitched causing Paul to freeze in hopefulness. He counted out loud every fucking torturous second it took before his urchin blinked; once, twice and then lowered her eyelids. Her breathing had returned to normal along with some color to her face.

Her eyelids stopped fluttering and stayed closed when she rolled facing him, a tiny huff puffing towards him before he registered that she was falling into her normal sleep. He waited to make sure he was correct about her sleeping before leaving the room to go call Sue.

"Hello?" A sleepy male's voice answered on the fifth ring.

"Harry, I'm sorry to call so late, but would it be possible to talk to Sue?" Paul whispered into the phone, his mind blindly stuck on the image of a lump in her bed.

The answerer didn't speak but a shuffling could be heard as the receiver exchanged hands before a woman's groggy voice echoed back. "Hello; Paul?"

"Hi, Sue. Sorry about calling so late, but I think something bad happened and I need to know what to do," Paul said quickly, retelling an abbreviated version of what had occurred. Even if Sue was a nurse, he sure as hell wasn't going to volunteer that their argument had started over sex!

Any tiredness Sue might have been feeling vanished as Paul spoke of the incident earlier in his living room, the yelling and the scuffle that followed. Sue had heard Paul yell before and she knew he could get mean. Not violent, at least not towards a girl, but Paul could be scary without even raising a hand.

"Yes, Paul, that does sound like she went into shock," Sue agreed when he finally wound down. "Are you sure she's sleeping normally?"

"Yeah, pretty sure. Most of her muscles are relaxed and the ones not fully relaxed are getting there. It didn't happen all at once," Paul tried to explain. He knew enough that if his girl had been entirely relaxed from the beginning, it would mean she had only passed out. It still would have been shock but a different type.

"And there was no physically trauma? You're absolutely certain she didn't strike her head?" Sue asked relentlessly. Sometimes head trauma victims could remain alert before passing out. If that was the case –and Sue mostly doubted it was—Arial would need immediate medical attention.

Grimacing, Paul could do nothing to stop the scene from playing in his head over and over. "No. when she started to go limp, I cradled her head before it could hit the ground and then lowered her."

"What about her knees? Could she have dislocated a knee cap or elbow? Maybe her wrist?" Sue questioned, causing Paul to jerk in surprise. He had been sure his girl hadn't broken anything but maybe it was a soft break. Shit, why did it feel like he had been through a tornado?

Hurrying back into the room, Paul carefully checked both of her wrists then lifted the covers and her pants to look at her knees.

"There's no swelling, bruising or discoloration," he reported, straightening the blankets to keep her bundled.

Sighing in audible relief, Sue felt bad for Paul. The poor kid was really trying and just kept getting into further messes. "Then it probably was psychological and not physiological shock," she gently explained. "Like before, let her sleep and if anything unusual occurs; she gets sick, develops a fever, cries out in pain or discomfort, call me immediately. If you can't waken her tomorrow, take her straight to the hospital. If you feel uncertain or ill at ease from your 'other' sense, just take her."

"Okay, Sue, thanks," Paul said gratefully, reading between the lines. His inner wolf allowed for the benefit of being able to detect certain emotional changes from his imprint, pain being the strongest. He left her room quietly, wanting to pace in agitation.

"Have you been able to learn anything else from her?" Sue asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Well…not directly," Paul said, walking into his kitchen for a drink. He wasn't thirsty but fucking needed a distraction. "She let me brush her hair last night and I noticed some weird scars on her head. I asked if those places hurt but she didn't say they did."

"What kind of scars?"

"If I had to guess, I'd say it looked like someone banged her head into a mirror or window." The word window turned into a soft growl from Paul. "There were a lot of them, but the scars look old."

Sue sighed heavily, not knowing how to comfort Paul. "We may never know, Paul. Not unless she's willing to tell us."

"Yeah, I know," Paul said softly, creeping back towards his urchin's room, distractions forgotten. Truth be told, Paul wasn't sure he really did want to know what had caused her head scarring. Not if it was inflicted on her by someone trying to hurt or kill her.

He almost forgot he was still talking on the phone and it fumbled slightly when Sue spoke again. "Try to get some rest, Paul. If anything was really wrong, the spirits would tell you."

"Good night, Sue," Paul replied, unaware of disconnecting the call.

* * *

><p>Paul sat as far away from Urchin as possible while still being in her room, his back ramrod straight against the closest doors. He could give two shits about how uncomfortable he felt or if this type of observation was even remotely fucking psychotic. The knowledge that he had somehow caused this mess ate away at his gut.<p>

Despite the assuredness that his girl was really sleeping and not knocked out or still in shock, Paul couldn't leave. He felt like a fucking coward, needing to be so damn close and…Fuck! Was this possessiveness? Had the inner wolf fucked him to the point of being such a whiney bitch?

He didn't want to think about it, this force keeping him rooted to the fucking floor of his girl's room at three a.m. in the morning. Billy had mentioned that separation was tricky between the newly imprinted but come the fuck on! Would it really kill him that badly to wander down the hall and pass out in his own bed? Paul, the man, could sleep and Paul, the wolf, could play fucking guard dog.

_Good luck with that shit_, his inner whiney conscious reminded Paul haughtily, his fingers clenching tightly into fists that had nothing to hit.

Where the fuck had he gone wrong? He hadn't asked her to… Paul's mind scattered again over the chain of events, blocking out the hard core reasoning behind his anger and her desperation.

_Say it, Paul,_ his conscious demanded. _Your imprint went down on you and wrapped her sweet lips around your dick to give you a blow job and you fucking freaked!_

He had. For the first time in Paul Lahote's life, he had fucking flipped over casual sex. Any normal guy would've been dancing the cha-cha if their girl crawled up the couch and started that shit on their own and what did Paul do? Acted like she was going to cut off his dick.

Then his guilt kicked back in, right to the nut sac. Rather than be calm and collected, Paul had yelled at the slip of girl sleeping several feet away. He had yelled loud enough to make her go into shock! Jesus, he was a douche nozzle for being such a fuckwit about the whole goddamn thing. His shoulders slumped a little as he thought about how he should've handled it. How he should've just spoke rationally and told her to stop. True, he'd still be a bitch for saying no to oral, but at least she would've let him explain some things, like as fuckawesome as it was for her to do that, they should probably at least know each other's names. Maybe try kissing on the lips first and then progress to whipping out their junk for each other to tongue tangle with.

As the sky began to lighten his urchin started to move in small shifts. A small jerk from her foot, a roll from her side to back and then stillness when she blinked her eyes open to stare at the ceiling. Her movements were disoriented and clumsy as she rose. When her eyes finally spotted him, she froze; not like before but in a somewhat normal, surprised way.

"Hey, Urchin," he greeted quietly. "I'm going to sit over here until you feel comfortable enough for me to approach, so please don't panic."

She blinked once but gave no type of indication as to how she was feeling. Her muscles were tense, though, and Paul was willing to bet she was scared and that the hormone flux of adrenaline had yet to kick in.

"Do you feel comfortable with me here? I…you know, if you want, I can leave and come back later or wait until you feel okay coming out."

They stared at each other for a few minutes before Paul realized he hadn't asked her a single question that she could answer with a shake or a nod.

"Do you want me to leave for now?" He tried again, refusing to make a move until she said yes or no. Any movement at this point would probably send her over the edge.

She sank back into the mattress slightly before shaking her head. Never once did she stop staring at him and Paul started to feel unsure.

"Do you feel okay to talking a bit?" He asked. "I could…" trailing off, he realized how difficult this was going to be. "I'm sorry, please answer that question first."

-A nod of approval.

"Would you rather have some food or water first?" Paul asked unexpectedly. It was still early but she probably needed some water or take a piss or something. Again, Paul was both surprised and relieved when she indicated no.

"Okay, but as soon as were done talking, we'll have breakfast okay?" That wasn't really debatable or even a question and he didn't bother to look up, dropping his eyes to stare impassively at the floor to find some fucking courage to talk about this shit.

"I'm sorry if I scared you last night," he started remorsefully. "That sure as hell wasn't my intention. Trust me, Urchin, I really want to do those things with you, but for some reason it felt wrong to me. Were you comfortable doing…that?" He still couldn't fucking bring himself to say blowjob and angrily, Paul pinched his damn leg for a fucking wakeup call.

His urchin stared at him blankly before nodding her head. Paul nearly swallowed his tongue in shock. He sure as fuck wasn't expecting a yes and for once was damn near speechless, his hand dropping away from his leg.

"I…okay," Paul said, thinking about the possibilities. _Maybe this was how it was supposed to work? _"I mean, that's good and I want you to like doing that." It was still wrong, all fucking wrong and until paul could hear a reasonable excuse, he couldn't bring himself to believe that shit for one minute. "I…are you sure? You really are comfortable doing that with me?"

Another hesitant nod, one that felt as wrong to him as the entire conversation did.

"Look, what you did felt great and shit, but was there a reason you did it?"

Her next nod seemed to blow up his verbal filter and Paul rushed on, failing to process what he was actually asking.

"Were you horny? I've seen some skanks that put any and everything in their mouths because they just need to suck huge coc…GAHHH!" Paul slapped his cheek hard and then literally yanked on his tongue, scarping it with his fingers as if to remove the last sentence he had just puked out. He had to be fucking possessed to have just asked his girl if she was some nympho bimbo who had to suck a dick every day to be happy.

"I'm sorry. Please forget that last shit I said," he directed, wiping his slightly wet hand on his pants. "What I meant was, is there a specific reason you tried to do that last night and not before?"

-Another nod.

"Can you tell me what it was?"

He hadn't actually thought she'd kick back and start talking but when his girl began to slowly point to things, her bed, the blanket, her clothes, the closet, Paul literally thought he was going to vomit. She had tried to…she wanted to…Jesus fucking Christ, she thought she owed it to him!

"Please, stop, Urchin. I get it, okay?" Paul whispered cautiously, worried his temper would make its appearance.

He couldn't stop from rocking back and forth in despair. It was one thing to fuck a slut because both parties were horny. To sexually use a chick because she wanted to say thanks for clothing and feeding her was at the very least Satanic and at the very most should be punishable by death.

Paul tried to invert and consort with his wolf. Anything he and Urchin did needed to be out of true emotion and not some misguided gratitude. He had been trying to fight the real reason behind her actions, knowing the whole fucking time it wasn't because she was suddenly blissfully fucking happy to be with him.

"This is so fucked up," he mumbled to himself, embarrassed to look his urchin in the eye. How the fuck was he supposed to apologize for this? He was over six and half feet tall, probably outweighed his girl three times over, was a supernatural being with damn near unlimited strength and even though he hadn't told her or asked her or even plucked his dick out of his own pants and waved it in her face, she had felt forced to act.

A noise or a shifting of sheets from his girl did cause Paul to look up finally and his heart and will power broke all over again. She was _his_ imprint, not someone else's and for all the shit he was going through at the moments, it had to be twice as hard for her. She didn't know he was a fucking werewolf, or that she kind of belonged here with him.

_Time to put up, shut up and lay down the cards. Well, some of the cards at least…_

"I don't want you to be embarrassed or think you have to do that shit," Paul tried explain to his girl without sounding like an ass. "When you go down…IF! If you go down on me…" stopping, Paul couldn't even finish his statement. There sure as hell wasn't a Miss Manner's guide to telling your girl when it was okay to fuck you. People didn't talk about that shit to each other. They just did it and Paul did want to do it. Just not like this.

Jesus, had he not fantasized about fucking her sweetly over and over again until they fell asleep only to wake up and do it all over again? Sex was definitely natural to Paul, normalcy depending on the participant and unfortunate spectator, and he'd be lying if he said he could live happily ever after without it. Paul decided to change tactics.

"What if I said I wanted to do that to you?" He asked, completely serious. "Go down on you and shit. Would you like that?" Paul hadn't even finished his question before his urchin was vehemently shaking her head no. All things considered, it was a really shitty way to end his hopefulness for future sex.

"You really wouldn't like that?" The shock in that question surprised even Paul. "I mean, I've never been with a chick who said no or anyth…you know what? We should probably talk about that shit later, much later."

If Paul felt like an ass, it had nothing on his girl's spike of terror. He had no idea how lame an asshole had to be to scare a girl from wanting to be eaten out, but Urchin had apparently had an encounter with said asshole if the idea of someone going down on her released this type of fear.

As the silence grew and she apparently realized he wasn't going to ask her anymore awkward sex questions, Paul could see she was going back to being weary. He could handle that shit –for now—and took the sign for what it was.

Standing up and stretching his cramped muscles, Paul finally felt the bone-assed tiredness he had been holding back. "Look, we definitely need to talk more about this, but I don't think we can figure it all out in just one day. You can go ahead and take a shower and I'll start breakfast."

He pretended to walk out into the kitchen, giving his girl time to collect her stuff and shuffle into the bathroom. Once he heard the door click shut, he backtracked to his room, listening at the door closely to see if he could hear the change in water tempo indicating she had actually gotten under the spray.

Paul was both relieved and felt like a douche for making sure his girl took a real shower. Technically she wasn't dirty or any of that shit, but he was worried she was really fucking scared of water and would need more persuasive measures to bathe. Trudging back into the kitchen he debated on an appropriate breakfast. She barely ate anything during meals and was always hungry an hour later._ That_ Paul could easily relate to, however, it wasn't something other imprints did. The rest of the pack constantly whined and bitched about their girls teasing them for eating outside of meal times.

Something brunch worthy sounded promising but Paul wasn't sure he could make any fancy shit for his girl. Not like the eggs Benedict Embry got from his imprint or the crepes Nadine sometimes made for Jake. Actually Paul kind of wished he hadn't pissed off Nadine cause he'd sure as hell invite himself and his girl over to their place this morning for some gourmet slop.

With not much of a variety to be had, Paul went with bagel and egg sandwiches. He also planned on eating a few of those doughnuts from yesterday and hoped his girl would like those as well.

The rest of the day passed exceptionally quiet for the two. After a late breakfast, Paul didn't know what he was supposed to do with his girl. he had planned on going grocery shopping, but was worried she might still feel weird about last night. Although, staying trapped in the house probably wouldn't make her feel more comfortable either.

Towards bedtime, the storms picked up again, heavy rain thumping against the windows and the lights flickering occasionally. His urchin literally jumped every time the power blinked and Paul was hard pressed to encourage her to go to bed. He was still tired as shit and definitely needed to close his eyes for a nap. Urchin probably wouldn't notice too much, but his fucking inner wolf did. The snarling creature would not allow for peace with its mate so high strung. In the end, it didn't matter, though. His girl was just as exhausted as he was and she drifted off into a semi relaxed sleep in one of the chairs. Through half-slitted eyes, Paul waited until he was sure she was deep enough under before getting up and carrying her to her room.

Paul couldn't remember what the hell happened to the pills he was supposed to be giving her. There was no question about ignoring his girl's wounds, though, and he gently pulled up her shirt to look at her knife wound. The scab itself was dried and the flesh surrounding it was a fading pink, telling Paul there was little if any inflammation and the wound was clean.

Unfortunately, he did catch sight of the bruise and that sent the inner cry-baby wolf into a tantrum. If he didn't feel so fuck awful tired, Paul happily would've gone outside, phased and bashed the whiny bastard into a tree. It took him three tries, but eventually he was able to leave his girl's room with only minor complaints from the wolf.

Ten minutes later and he was just as dead to the world as his imprint. Diagonally spread across his mattress, Paul didn't even bother with a sheet, pillow or blanket. He was barely awake enough to remember to kick off his own shoes.

The funny scratching sound woke Bella up instantly. She couldn't figure out where she was and when the flash of lightening illuminated the room she was laying in, creepy shadows danced across the walls. Sliding off of the bed, Bella crawled to the closet, curling up inside in hopes of drowning out the sounds and images.

The closet did nothing to help Bella relax. Every time her head leaned to the side, she'd jerk back up to that eerie whistling or from a bang of thunder. It also didn't help that the tree outside of the window would scratch against the glass. Not loudly but softly and sinister as if the plant was taunting her…kind of like the demons did.

With the thoughts of her previous captors in the forefront of her mind, the next bang of thunder sent her scurrying from the shelter of her room. The Paul man might be scary and if the demons came here tonight, Bella didn't want him to be hurt –especially since he apologized to her for her mistake!—but over the past couple days, she had lost the ability to be able to rest by herself.

Peering in through his door, Bella watched the Paul man sleep. The longer she stood there and stared, the more he started to move, twisting slowly from his side onto to his back and then sometimes rolling back to his side or onto his stomach.

What was she going to do? She didn't want to sleep in his bed, but the rain and wind were scaring her. Of course, she didn't need to sleep. She could sit up and wait until the storm stopped or it became day time. If she stayed awake, though, she was still going to be scared and then even more tired tomorrow when the Paul man was also awake. He probably wasn't going to hurt her, but she'd be a fool to let her guard down entirely.

The more she thought about it, the more she decided it was a really bad idea to try to sleep with him in his bed, regardless of how tired and scared she was. Last night's disastrous attempt to show her appreciation still burned harshly in her mind. He might think she hadn't learned her lesson and then…

Bella swayed on her feet as she remembered how the monsters punished her when she committed the same flaw within a matter of days, taping her mouth shut and tying her hands before placing her in a dark, locked cubby where rats and mice would come out and crawl over her. Sometimes, they'd collect bugs and throw them on her before closing the door. Instinctively the memories triggered the feel of creatures scurrying over her flesh and Bella whimpered quietly as she ineffectively rubbed her arms.

"Urchin?" Bella heard the Paul man whisper, causing her to drop to the ground. Holding her breath, she waited to see if he would say more, call her over, or get up to punish her. The bed made a rustling sound as he shifted some more, Bella inching her way out of his room to sit in the hallway. Another lash of lightening followed by the boom of thunder invoked an eeping noise from her and more rustling from the bed. She felt lost and afraid, unaccustomed to having no one tell her what to do. She didn't want the Paul man to wake up and punish her, but if he told her to sleep and stop being silly, she'd feel better.

Paul's eyes blinked open to flash of lightening. Before the recoiling of thunder could be heard, he knew his urchin was awake and close, her timidness and uncertainty the forefront emotions currently choking the wolf.

Shifting to his side, Paul watched his doorway when she scuttled out of sight. Logic told him to get up, grab her and carry her back to his bed where he could nuzzle against his urchin to soothe away the anxiety. Unfortunately it was wolf logic and Paul had to fight an inner battle to remain stationary in his bed while he felt his girl try to make an unknown decision.

He counted flashes of light to pass the time, curiosity pecking at him when she moved further away and back into her room, but not for long. The slithering of cloth against the floors told Paul she had a blanket and was headed for the living room.

It wasn't reluctance or hesitancy that kept Paul in bed for nearly an hour more. It was confusion. He wanted to tend to his urchin's needs and the problem was, none of his solutions seemed to be the right one. It was the indecisiveness that caused Paul to get up and find his girl. Neither of them would learn if they just pussy-footed around each other and unless she zombie'd or screamed, he had all intentions of sleeping next to her.

Barefoot and silent, he padded his way across the familiar surroundings, not stopping until he was next to the couch where one, scared, exhausted and partially sleeping urchin lay. Shuffling the blankets around his girl was reflexive. When he was content that she was warm, he slid onto the sofa next to her, once again amazed they both fit comfortably.

Despite the harshness raging outside, both wolf and girl slept peacefully together, neither waking again until the storm had long passed and the sun began to rise.


	16. Chapter 15

A/N: Kudos to my beta, ShadowPast620. Thank you, readers, for all of the toughtful reviews you have been leaving for me and my plotbunny, Elmer.

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><p>Bella awoke to the smell of food. Groggily she rolled over, barely catching herself before sliding off of the couch, the new blanket extremely warm, comfortable and a bit heavy for her small frame that had never felt such a covering before. Pulling up on this new and incredibly nice luxury, she watched as her toes emerged from underneath, wiggling them in appreciation. They were clean.<p>

She didn't hear him approaching, but the Paul man's voice stopped her wiggling appreciation, cold.

"Urchin, where are your socks?" he asked staring at her bared feet as he stood at one end of the couch.

Slowly, Bella pulled them back under the blanket she was clutching, not knowing how to answer him. Had she been wearing them last night when she left her room due to the rain? She should've been since socks were important.

"I thought you liked them. Are they uncomfortable?" Paul asked, setting down a glass and coming closer to her.

_What was she going to do?_ She didn't know where they had gone, she'd just woken up. Anxiously looking around the room, Bella wondered if someone had taken them. In the Underground, she had learned to never take her shoes off; socks only when in a washroom. They were a well sought commodity and if you took them off, along with your shoes, chances were you wouldn't get them back. Bella had learned that the hard way a few years ago when she had tried to relieve a blister. Thinking it would be okay, she took her shoes and socks off despite the frigid air to allow her feet to rest.

Sometime during the night, someone had taken them, leaving a barefoot Bella to fend for herself. It wouldn't have been nearly so bad if there hadn't been a heavy freeze that night. The monsters had found her attempting to hobble back to her cubby, barefoot and crying. Their punishment had taken her two weeks to regain the ability to walk and another four to do so without pain.

Paul must have realized that somehow, someone came in to take them and he was probably really mad after having spent money to buy them for her. She had no idea how to make up for it.

When Paul finally looked at her, she didn't see anger in his face, but then plenty of times the monsters had also smiled, or looked happy before hurting her because her clothes had become too ragged, or she hadn't been able to find a new garment to replace something. Looking over his shoulder, she shut her mind down as to what would be coming. He may have said no to her advances the other night, but he could still hurt her other ways, especially since she didn't know what had happened to her socks.

Defensive mechanisms kicked in unbidden, causing Bella to remain conscious, yet slip away nonetheless.

He took one look at the nasty blankness shrouding his girl's eyes and panicked.

"Come on, Urchin, don't do this to me, please," Paul pleaded, dropping to his knees to meet her at eye level. Cupping her cheeks, he slowly ran his thumbs over her cheek bones, needing that dead look to leave her eyes.

"Are you cold?" he asked, failing to understand why she went zombie like. Pulling the blanket up from her feet, he grabbed her to rub his hands against the flesh, wondering if she was upset over her missing socks. Shit, he had bought her a few dozen pairs and could easily go grab a new set if need be. As he continued to shift the blanket, a brightly colored puffy thing appeared from in between the couch cushions.

"Look, Urchin, they're right here," Paul said, carefully dropping her foot and yanking out the first one then dipping his hand in the cushioned crevice to search out the mate. "I think you must have kicked them off in your sleep," he babbled while putting the socks back on her.

With the feet coverings in place, he continued to warm her feet trying not to sigh in relief as the tension eased from his girl, her eyes slowly coming back into focus until she looked at him with an impassive expression.

"See? It's all good. Don't worry about it." Leaning back on his heels, Paul watched closely to see if the zombie crisis had really passed or if his girl was about to zone out again. Once she blinked a few times, he sighed in relief and slowly stood back up, extending his hand to help her.

"Come on, Urchin. Let's get our day started and then we'll go grocery shopping. You know, if you feel like it?" Paul added hesitantly at the end. Grocery shopping wasn't a dire imperative, but he didn't want to risk getting too close to the edge of having empty cupboards. Of course, if his urchin wanted to stay home, he was okay with that, too.

Relaxation was not even the appropriate feeling Paul experienced when his urchin reached out to grasp his offered hand, watching his eyes the entire time she moved to stand and follow him to the kitchen. Jesus, when the fuck would they be able to wake up normally and crisis free?

"Umm, I just cooked some sausage and threw some frozen biscuits in the oven so we could have mini sandwiches," Paul explained nervously, looking at the pan on the stove.

Walking to the fridge, he threw the door open wide, rambling like a bitch. "So, we've got that or if you'd rather, I can make something else, but what do you want to drink?" Grabbing the milk, Paul swiveled around to face his surprised urchin.

"Do you want some?" he asked holding up the plastic carton. Her eyes darted to the coffee pot and reluctantly, Paul put the milk away. "Coffee's fine. Go ahead and sit at the table. I'll be right there."

Did he have any fucking right to even be mad at her for preferring coffee over milk? Trying not to slam his irritation with the cupboards, he grabbed two mugs to fill, watching the three minute coffee pot take twelve to brew one damn pot.

"Piece of shit," he muttered, flicking the hard plastic case as if it would speed up the brewing process. Agitation high again, he went back to the fridge to grab the milk, wondering how it was even possible he had forgotten he'd need that shit in the first place.

He had watched Urchin astutely the second morning and knew she was light with the milk but heavy on the sugar, making him wonder again if he had any right to try and control what she should and shouldn't eat. His hand waivered over the cup before he pushed away the insecurity shit and just made the beverage the way she liked it. They could talk about proper nutrition later.

Like never.

Back in the dining room, Paul watched as his girl ate breakfast, noticing how relaxed she was when the food of choice was to be eaten by hands and not utensils. It would be unhealthy for him to let her only eat finger type foods, but he'd make sure to try to swing the odds in her favor. He at least had the fucking insight to wait until she started to pick at her food before he began again with the questioning.

"So, Urchin, today is Monday which means you've been here for five days. Well, six if you count last Wednesday, but you slept most of the first day," Paul remarked causally, watching as her fingers plucked at the side of the half eaten biscuit on her plate.

When he continued to remain silent, she looked up with weary eyes, failing to give him any type of fucking iota as to what she expected.

"Yeah, so not that it matters or anything, but I was wondering if maybe I could ask you some more shit?"

Her nod was quick.

"Well, for starters can you tell me your name? I mean, you seem okay with Urchin and fuck, if you like that I'll sure as hell keep calling you that, but the rest of the people I know think its kinda weird and shit."

She continued to stare at him.

"So, will you tell me?" Paul specifically asked again, hearing the increased pulse before he noticed a tiny bead of sweat form on her brow.

_Fuck! This was simple and not supposed to freak her out!_

"Urchin works if you like it," he tried to placate. "Hell, I don't need to call you anything else, okay? I just thought it'd be nice if I could tell people a real name. You know, like if we're out in town or some shit?" As the silence grew the minutes became longer to Paul. It was obviously fucking clear as glass she wasn't going to give him anything as simple as a name.

"Right," Paul mumbled dejectedly. "No name for now. How about something easier then?" Thinking quickly, Paul decided he wanted to hear her talk. No answer or question just something retarded so he knew what she sounded like normally, the freak out scream from two nights ago not counting as a voice.

"Can you say my name? It doesn't have-" he cut off his statement as soon as she started to vigorously shake her head. "You can't say my name?"

-Continuous refusal.

"Why not?" Paul asked a bit disappointed. Urchin still didn't say anything, but she gave him some weird look; one that spoke volumes and was encrypted as fuck.

"Is there…can I do something to make you want to say my name?" He tried again, determined to hear her speak.

Urchin dropped her eyes first then lowered her head. She didn't move and despite already knowing she wasn't currently talking, Paul found himself leaning closer in an attempt to pick up some words…mumbling…hell, even a burp! He stayed stationary within inches of her form when Urchin finally lifted her head to nod yes. Paul was so fucking shocked by the action he almost forgot what answer he was waiting for and it took him a minute to realize she had kind of agreed to say his name!

_Somehow…_

He had to wonder if this was some kinky intimate shit his girl wanted. Like her offering to say his name was an honor and she'd do it, but he had to do something first to earn that shit!

Tact completely unknown, Paul just blurted out his request of "Tell me!" at full volume, his excitement overriding any and everything else that could be occurring. He never thought the idea of a girl saying his name to be kinky or any of that shit –bedroom activities excluded—but he was almost riding a porno vibe here, waiting to hear his name fall from her lips.

Paul didn't hesitate to follow his girl when she clumsily got up from the table and shuffled to the kitchen. Methodically she seemed to be searching for something, opening every door and drawer only to shut them when they didn't house whatever she needed.

"Do you need something, Urchin? You can just tell me what it is, whisper that shit if you want to wait until after I've done whatever it is I need to before you can say my name in a normal voice," Paul said excitedly.

His excitement took an abrupt dive once his girl pulled out a bottle of bleach. _What_ _the ever loving fuck_ _did he need to clean for her to say his name?_ His shock only morphed into disbelief when she fiddled with the top to open the bottle then brought it to her nose to sniff.

"Jesus, Urchin, don't breathe that shit! It'll fucking kill you." Striding towards her, Paul grabbed the bottle from her hands to screw the lid tightly closed. "I know I said I'd do anything, but you want me to clean something?" he asked stupidly when she stared at him expressionless.

She didn't answer, though and Paul anxiously trailed after her when she walked to his room, freezing when she grabbed the notebook with the grocery list on it.

"Umm, okay," Paul said, wondering if this deal needed to include the promise of _buying_ cleaning supplies. Did she think his house was a shit hole?

His confusion only increased when she ripped off the list to study it and then gently set it aside. _Maybe_ _she could read after all?_ All thoughts about what his urchin could or couldn't do disappeared when she tore off a second sheet of paper and then proceeded to give herself a paper cut with it.

"Shit, Urchin! Don't fucking cut yourself with that; give it here." Paul was at her side in an instant, unmindful that he still held the bleach bottle or that while he was inspecting her cut hand, the girl was trying to instill another paper cut on the other one.

He heard the near silent slice as it cut her hand and his anger bloomed. "What the fuck is wrong with you? Stop it!"

It wasn't much of a struggle, taking the paper away from his girl. Paul's anger simmered slightly at her look of acceptance and he wondered for the millionth fucking time what this shit was about. She watched as he balled up both the list and the blank sheet to toss aside. Then, for who knew why, she tried to grab the bleach bottle he had dropped in his rage.

"No, Urchin," he reprimanded incorrectly. "You can't use bleach to clean your cuts. Let me go grab the first aid kit." Taking the container of cleaner, he started to turn around, only to pause when her fingers brushed at his back.

"I promise I'll be right back. It's just in the bathroom."

Bella wanted to cry. She was trying to tell him the necessary steps needed to make her talk and he was mad just not in the right way. The bleach didn't smell like the same stuff the vamps used, but it did sting her eyes and she was sure it would be just as effective. The paper cuts, though, weren't as deep as the demons made using their nails on her skin, and the Paul man didn't have fingernails like they did. He wouldn't be able to cut her that way.

True to his word, the Paul man came right back, this time the bleach gone from his hands and replaced with several different boxes of band aids. He didn't say anything as he grabbed first one hand then the other to fit with tiny bandages for her fingers. When he was done, he looked at her in anger, making Bella realize that if she was going to talk for him, she'd have to push for hard punishment.

She really hoped that he'd ask his questions after each blow. She was prone to passing out quickly after the third or fourth strike.

"Urchin, I don't want to see you hurt yourself like that. It may just be a goddamn paper cut, but that shit is unnecessary," he told her.

Her mind was threatening to retreat into safety and Bella knew she just needed to get it over with. He was still holding her hand and she gave it a squeeze, a very sharp one.

"It still stings, huh?" The Paul man asked. His anger was fading, not increasing, and she worried what steps she'd have to take to get him to understand.

Trying again, she squeezed his hand until her own shook from the effort, failing to notice that while he could feel the pressure, it in no way hurt him.

"I told you that shit wasn't funny," he explained patiently, still thinking she was communicating her own pain to him. "Good thing I took the bleach away, otherwise you'd really be in pain."

Bella dropped his hand in frustration, her stare going to the floor. Everybody knew how to hit a person, men especially. The Paul man hadn't hit her yet, although if she had pushed the concept when she had tried to show appreciation, he probably would've…

The action started before she could formulate where it would end. Her hands went to his waist and tried to unsnap his pants. The Paul man's reflexes were quicker, though.

"No fucking way, Urchin. Paper cuts may hurt and if you want to, you can kick me or some shit but I'm not letting you take that pain out on my boys," he said, not even sounding angry but…amused?

Now he held both of her hands while wearing a silly grin. This was not working out the way she needed it to. Well, not her specifically, but if he wanted to hear her speak, the incentive had to be enforced. Lifting her right hand, she brought it to her cheek, staring imploring at the Paul man to understand and just get it over with.

Bella didn't understand why she wanted to make him happy and appease his wishes. Her actions would bring swift and blood curdling pain, but if she could give him what he asked for, especially since he had given her so much already, she'd do it. Even if it meant he'd get rid of her sooner.

His own features had softened, his large hand cupping the cheek she had placed it against as his fingers stroked the thin flesh. She pulled it away slightly from her face, hoping he'd understand. She may not have had strength behind her momentum but it was enough, his hand making an audible smack as she pushed it hard back across her face.

"What the ever loving fuck!" He screamed, literally jumping back a good five feet from Bella. "Jesus, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…" trailing off, Paul tried to process what had just happened.

Fucking hell, he had been all giddy and shit, touching his girl's face and then he hit her? It didn't matter that the action had been applied by Urchin. It had been his hand that slapped across her cheek and he hadn't done a motherfucking thing to stop it, whether he knew it had been about to happen or not! Just as quickly as he had jumped away, he was right back in front of her, cupping her cheeks again, firmly.

"Urchin…Christ we need to fucking talk about this shit. I mean, one minute we're on some weird ass scavenger hunt so you'll talk to me and then you cut yourself and want to use bleach to clean it and if that wasn't enough to make my fucking heart sputter, you go off and let me hit you. What the hell is this all about?" Paul asked, watching her eyes closely.

He could smell the fear, happiness, contentment and sadness all rolled up into big fucking ball of emotional contradictions and wondered if he could figure out what the driving force was from her eyes. If eyes were the window to a soul then Paul decided in that second his girl's needed pressure washing cause he couldn't see shit.

Dropping Urchin's cheeks he took a step away from her, rolling his neck in agitation. "Look, if you aren't ready to talk, we'll let it be. However, I need you to stop fuck- grabbing my shit. Naked and messing around? Sure, go for it, but using your fear to goad yourself into sex with me is an absolute hell-fuck-no, got that?"

Dumbly, his girl nodded in understanding, or at least he fucking hoped she understood that shit wasn't cool. Taking in her total appearance, Paul felt like shit. His urchin wasn't the type of chick he'd ever willingly agree to see or want to date and while the imprint had surely fucked him over in a one-eighty, he couldn't deny that there was something very striking about the type of woman she was.

Like he had been for most of his life, she wasn't worried about the aftermath of her decisions and only acted in a way her immediate circumstances demanded. The fact that Paul was still fucking clueless as to what triggered her actions, pissed him off, but oddly enough they also made sense in a crazy-assed, senseless way.

Imprinting, Paul decided, was not only a gift, but also one fucked up, crack ride of being alive and he was more than willing to see it to the end.

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><p>The water from the shower head pulsed strongly as Denise adjusted the handle to the spot where she knew gave her a temperature of comfort. Humming softly to herself, she stood in front of the mirror to strip and then brush her hair before venturing into the tub for her shower. Her thoughts quickly turned to the man who would love her forever, Collin Littlesea.<p>

A descendant through her maternal side from the S'Klallam tribes located around Sequim, Washington, Denise had been quite shocked when Collin approached her out of the blue at one of the city's summer lavender festivals.

Much like the puppy she later found out he really was, he had trailed after her and her friends for several hours, too shy to approach her outright. He was extremely attractive to Denise, but she became slightly concerned when on the second day of the festival, he showed up again to follow her around, never more than twenty feet away despite the throngs of people enjoying the event.

She waited until she had ordered a hamburger from one of the vendors before approaching the towering giant and several of his friends.

"Excuse me," she asked politely on her way to discard her paper plate. "You look familiar to me. Do I know you?" She had never seen any of them prior to the day before, but the opening was common enough not to be thought of as rude.

The three males had all fallen silent the moment she spoke, only the suspicious stalker one unable to make direct eye contact. Denise suspected one of his friends had given him a kick under the table before he spoke to break the lengthening silence and she tried not to snort in amusement.

"Uh, no, I don't think we've met before," Collin mumbled, finally looking up to her face. "Not that I would've forgotten if we had met before, somewhere, but if we had I'd have remembered your name, too. I don't think I could forget you."

"He'd like to know you, though," One of the others snickered under his breath and earning a kick of his own.

"Okay. I just thought I knew you from somewhere. My mistake." Continuing on her way out of the picnic area, she wasn't immediately surprised when Collin appeared behind her, flustered and nervous.

"I'm sorry for my friends back there," he apologized before thrusting his hand forward. "My name's Collin. They like to tease me and everyone else, for that matter. I hope you aren't mad or weren't offended or anything."

"Denise," she replied in kind, amazed at how gentle his hand shake was considering his size. "And, no, I wasn't offended." His hand still followed hers when she went to pull away and Denise giggled.

"Can I join you?" he asked sheepishly, a faint tinting of a blush marring his high set cheeks. "I'm not sure I've seen all of the vendors and booths and you seem to know your way around here."

"Sure," Denise agreed, deciding to give in and let him hold her hand as they strolled past the vendors and potted plants, eventually making their way into one of the nearby lavender fields where other people and couples took pictures.

It had been amidst the deep blue and purple hues of freshly growing lavender that Denise had received her first kiss from Collin unexpectedly, but wholly welcome. Another guest had decided they made a cute couple and had snapped their picture moments before the yet to be met Jacob Black appeared to retrieve Collin. Denise still laughed to herself when the photographer had turned out to be Jake's unknown imprint as well: Nadine.

Realizing that the shower had been running for some time now, Denise snapped out of her memories to climb underneath the water, a shriek of shock bursting forth when the water touched her skin.

"Collin!" Denise cried out in surprised anger. "Did you turn the washing machine on?" Fumbling to get back out of the cold water, she wasn't surprised when her wolf burst into the small bathroom.

"Dee, what's wrong? Are you okay?" Collin demanded, searching the six by four foot room diligently. His hand shot out automatically for her to grab and step out of the shower as he studied the enclosure carefully.

Denise waited patiently until Collin's body frame relaxed into normalcy before she spoke. To do so otherwise would mean she'd have to repeat herself. "I'm fine, Collin, except for the fact that there's no hot water."

"Are you sure?" He asked, his eyes darting back and forth between his imprint and the still running water.

"Collin, I do live with a werewolf. I think I'd know if there was hot water or not." With her teeth chattering slightly, Denise reached out to turn the water off and was stopped by her wolf.

"Come here," Collin demanded, taking over the task of wrapping the towel around his imprint and then hugging her close to share his heat.

With one arm wrapped around Denise he used his other to reach to the taps and fiddle with the settings, sighing in defeat when he couldn't get any hot water either.

"You could run a bath," Collin finally suggested, not liking the look of disappointment Denise had. "I'll even wash your back for you," he suggested as a bonus; more for him than Denise.

"I'm not about to take a bath in ice cold water," she mumbled, pushing her face back into his chest.

"Weelllll, you could run a bath and then I'll sit in the water for a few hours until it's warm," he suggested with a playful wiggle of his eyebrows.

The scowl was instant as Denise raised her head to glare at her wolf. "Collin, it's not funny. We need hot water."

"I know, honey. Fill the tub partially full and I'll go boil some water for you so we can get it warm. Then I'll call Paul and see if he can come over and take a look at it," Collin said, instantly mindful of the situation at hand.

"Lahote?" Denise questioned, trying not to scrunch her nose in distaste. "Do we really have to call him?"

If there was a chance anyone else could've come over and helped out Collin, he would've jumped on it, knowing how uncomfortable his girl was around Paul. "I know you don't really like him, but he works construction and probably has a better idea as to what to look for than I do," he explained softly. "If we have to get a new one…" trailing off, Collin didn't want to state the obvious.

It wasn't like he and Denise were destitute or anything. They had enough money for food, clothes, utilities and their house payment. A new water heater, though, would probably cost at least four hundred dollars, cutting into their meager savings.

"Fine, but hold off on heating up the water," Denise sighed in agreement. "The last thing I want is for Lahote to be in our house while I'm naked and in the bathroom."

"Yeah," Collin agreed. "That's probably a good idea. He's changed a little bit, though. He did finally imprint."

"I know. Kim told Claire who told Regina who told me. Thanks for not telling me earlier," Denise joked with her man, not at all surprised he hadn't said anything sooner and happy to change the subject from money to pack gossip.

"I didn't purposely not tell you, Dee," Collin half defended, half pleaded for forgiveness from his imprint, his younger pack standing still evident in the way he spoke to Denise. It wasn't that he was uncomfortable with his wolf, but Collin still felt weird about being one and all that it entailed.

The force of imprinting may have been what caused Collin to see Denise that summer day at the festival, however, even without it he still thought she was beautiful and perfect for him. True he probably wouldn't have found the courage to ever talk to her on the second day, but after a few months of constantly revisiting Sequim he could've managed to ask her out on a date.

Probably.

"It's no big deal," Denise reassured him soothingly. "I'm not mad that you didn't tell me, although you have to wonder what kind of woman the Guardians gave him. Good thing we only have to get together collectively at special events. I bet she'll give Leah a run for her money."

"Actually, she's not like that at all," Collin said thoughtfully, thinking over the shared moments of the pack mind. "At least not yet."

Stepping away from him, Denise walked out of the bathroom and down the short hallway to their bedroom, talking over her shoulder to a following Collin. "It's the quiet ones you always have to worry about. Good thing Lahote's such an ass. He needs a female to yank his ego down a notch or two once in awhile."

Collin was quick to dispute his imprint's thoughts. "I don't see that happening either. His girl came from an abusive lifestyle." Instinctually he watched as she dropped her towel to put on clothes. He may be slightly shy and friendly but he was still a guy.

"So?" Denise argued, pulling a shirt on. "Claudia says there are quite a few girls in her classes that come from tough homes and most of them are as mean as enraged animals."

"Dee, I don't think it's like that with his girl. Whatever she's been through, she can't even talk about it to him," Collin explained, watching as Denise stopped pulling her pants on to give him an imprint worthy scowl.

"Why would she?" Denise asked. "People don't like to remember their past and I'm sure Paul hounding her about it every other minute isn't helping matters."

"I…don't think he's even gotten to that stage, yet," Collin tried to explain tactfully. "They're still trying to figure out her name."

"Well, if I was her, I wouldn't want to tell Paul my name either. It's easy to see that he's trouble. I'm surprised she didn't just make something up to ditch him."

Collin just laughed. "It's not that easy, trying to ditch your wolf. She's feeling a portion of what we as wolves feel towards our girls. Leaving him would feel worse than telling him a false name."

"Which brings me right back to my point: His imprint is obviously a tough as nails type of chick." Patting the side of the bed, Denise waited until Collin was fully seated right next to her before reaching over to hug him.

"Imprints aren't always exactly like their wolves," Collin said in self defense. "Look at Sam and Leah."

"Those two are definitely more similar than not. Sam may be quiet most of the time, but I've seen him get snarky towards Leah."

"Only in self defense!" Collin exclaimed.

"Really, Collin?" Denise challenged in disbelief. "Explain to me exactly how chewing the crotch out of most of her panties could possibly be skewed as self defense?"

Opening and closing his mouth several times, Collin found it impossible to dispute that mishap. "Okay, so maybe they do have _some_ similarities," he grudgingly agreed. "I still don't think Paul's imprint is anything like him, though."

"Did you meet her?" She asked.

"No, not yet. Sam was thinking last night on patrol about a possible get together to introduce her informally to the pack."

"That might be nice to do before Thanksgiving gets here and Paul's woman ruins any of the holiday festivities." Denise knew Collin was generally kind hearted and he seemed to be making an extreme effort to protect this unnamed girl. She trusted him, but until she actually got to meet the girl, Denise was not about to put out the welcome mat.

"Dee, don't be like that, please. You haven't even met her yet," Collin asked quietly. His girl wasn't mean natured, but Paul's imprint would require a lot of unquestionable understanding and care, not only from Paul but the rest of the pack as well.

"I'm not being like anything, Collin. I'm not going to be rude or anything, but if she's anything at all like Paul I don't want to be surprised."

Denise's words might have sounded bitchy to the casual observer, but Collin knew where she was coming from. Even with a genie, brain surgery and total memory wipe-out, it was hard to believe that any woman Paul associated with would be entirely different from him.

* * *

><p>"Yeah?" Paul snapped, answering his phone. His urchin had been giving him funny looks all morning and damn if he knew what she needed or wanted, especially after the earlier incident.<p>

"Paul?" came Collin's cracked voice. "Is it possible for you to come over to my house for a minute? The water heater has shit the bucket and I'd need to know if its fixable, or if I should be heading out to buy a new one."

"Buy a new one," Paul answered immediately not caring either way. He sure as hell wasn't the Rez handy man and being part of the pack didn't mean it extended to human form all the goddamn time, especially on his vacation.

"Come on, man," Collin cajoled over the phone. "They're kind of expensive. Just come over and see if it's fixable." He paused before a wisp of desperation slipped into his tone. "At least for a few more months."

_The slimy fucker._ Paul knew water heaters were expensive and he also knew Littlesea and his girl weren't made of money. He kind of felt bad for the guy, but today was already occupied.

"I can't. Urchin doesn't like strangers and she wouldn't feel comfortable at your place," Paul explained, not bothering to add that he really didn't want to take her anywhere until he was sure she wouldn't try to 'communicate' with one of the other wolves. His mind wouldn't be able to stay sane if he watched Urchin grab a pack mate's junk.

"So leave her home. I only need you for a few minutes. Please?" Collin asked, aware that Paul was quickly growing angry if the harsh breathing was any indication.

"You fucking owe me, Littlesea," he growled into the phone, eager to just get this shit over with. "I'll be there in ten."

"Hey, thanks, Pa-" Paul turned his phone off, not interested in any thanks. Silently he stood up and walked to the back of the house where Urchin had holed herself up in her room.

"Urchin?" came Paul's questioning tone from the door. Looking up, she realized he looked kind of disappointed. "Hey, I need to run over to a friend's house for a few minutes. Did you want to go?"

Shaking her head no, Bella worried he'd make her go anyway. It was quite possible the Paul man had decided to use a friend to make her talk and Bella's desire to share with the Paul man wasn't great enough to allow a newcomer to torture her. She couldn't mask her surprise fast enough when he actually agreed with her.

"I didn't think so," the Paul man sighed as if he knew what she was thinking. "But I thought I'd ask. I won't be gone long. Will you be okay here for a half an hour by yourself?"

This was the chance she needed to check on her supplies outside and make sure the bugs hadn't found anything. Happily she nodded yes she would be okay and waited for his final decision.

"Okay," he agreed sadly. "I promise I won't be gone long and then maybe we can do something together."

The hopefulness startled Bella and she found herself agreeing more out of amazement than desire. He turned and left her room quickly.

She didn't hear him leave the house, but was well aware of the empty feeling in the dwelling that indicated she was alone. Sliding off of her bed, Bella went to the kitchen to see if she could find some more supplies. Two cans of food and a napkin wrapped doughnut were all that she felt safe enough to take at one time. Remembering that she had also hidden some food in a cabinet, Bella went to retrieve it, frustrated when it wasn't in the spot she had left it. By the fifth cabinet search Bella knew she couldn't waste any more time looking for the sandwiches and other doughnuts. If the Paul man had found them, he had yet to say anything and that worried her.

Finally armed with her new supplies and wearing the warm jacket the Paul man had bought for her, Bella escaped out the back door in search of her hidden tree cache. For fifteen minutes she walked around the tree line surrounding the Paul man's yard, wondering why she couldn't remember exactly which plant was the one she had climbed a few days ago. A pair of socks on the forest floor caught her attention and as she pickd them up to study the frayed fabric, she looked above, failing to see any type of brown paper bag.

Had it blown away during the storm or had animals scampered off with it? It didn't take long to scale the tree and look about more closely, hoping to find a trace as to what had happened. If the socks were here, then this had to be close to the area of hiding, right?

Sooner than she would have liked, Bella was back on the forest floor, trying not to cry. Her first collection of supplies had vanished with only a lone pair of socks remaining to show for her efforts. If there had been more time, she could've dug a hole and buried the pack with the new ones for safe keeping, but the Paul man wasn't dumb. He'd notice the missing backpack and probably the dirty mess Bella would become if she tried to dig a deep enough hole.

A prickle to the back of her neck caused her mind to halt on hiding possibilities and informed Bella she was no longer alone out here.

Her eyes scanned the immediate shrubs and trees, wondering if today would be the day the demons finally found her. She hadn't noticed before, yet there weren't any animal noises. No skittering of critters in the trees or the sound of birds chirping. It was really creepy.

Scanning the area once again, Bella stared transfixed at the large animal that was suddenly close to her. It was hiding, sort of, but she could still see it was a huge beast.

_Was it mean? Would it attack her when she turned her back and tried to flee? It probably had lots of sharp teeth and would ruin her new coat. _

Not knowing what she should do, Bella slowly slumped to the ground. The Paul man would be home soon and then he'd be mad that she had gotten into trouble and he would have to come out here to scare the thing away.

_What if he didn't bother to look for her, though?_ She had double upped her clothes and taken the backpack with her just in case. He might be really mad, thinking she had run away and not even want to look for her. Maybe he knew these weird beasts were out here and would be happy knowing she probably would be eaten since he had spent money on her and all she did was run.

Bella allowed the first tear to escape. For as scary as he could be, the Paul man was actually kind of nice. She didn't understand why he had been so upset about her trying to kiss him down there; no man had ever told her no before and the only time they touched her during the act was to either force her to be still so they could do the moving or to pull her away so they could spray her with their release.

He had sounded almost hurt though when she told him she didn't want him to touch her like that. Why would he want to? There was nothing pleasurable he could get from kissing her…there. It must be a new kind of humiliation tactic that had not been performed on Bella before.

Something warm touched her cheek and Bella head's banged against the tree trunk behind her in shock. The creature thing had stopped hiding and had crept right up to her to lick her cheek. Less than a hand span away, the large mouth hovered in front of her face showing Bella just how many sharp pointy teeth it did have. She didn't think the creature was mad, but it could still be hungry.

It made a funny sound, and gently pressed its nose against her neck before taking a few steps back to lie down in front of her.

Carefully watching the creature, Bella pulled the pack off of her back to open it. She didn't want to share her food and hoped to be able to hide more of it out here cunningly. However the present situation required that she try to distract the beast from eating her by sharing.

The one can of soup she had snagged bumped loudly against the can of fruit and Bella wanted to cry. In her haste to gather some staples, she hadn't thought about needing a tool to open them. How could she share now? The only other thing she had grabbed was a doughnut.

It was all or nothing. Unwrapping the napkin, she pulled the sweet dessert free and tossed it to the beast, trying not to panic when its mouth flawlessly caught the treat and swallowed in one motion. It made a funny motion with its lips and Bella would have thought it was smiling if creatures could do that. Smile or not, once the treat was gone, it didn't leave.

Unhidden and this close, Bella could clearly make out the color of its fur, a very light sandy color similar to a dirty snow. Its head was shaped differently and it had a longer tail, but it kind of looked like a real life version of Moonbeam.

The creature cocked its head to the side slightly, slowly panting, but otherwise unmoving. It made its funny sound again and then inched forward, lying its head back down on its front paws to stare.

_Maybe it was a pet and not wild?_

Bella wanted to see if this thing was as soft as Moonbeam. She figured if it was going to eat her, it would've done so already and even if it hadn't, at this close range, she'd be dead quickly. There wasn't enough space for her to get away and she might as well comfort herself somehow. Stupidly she allowed unsteady fingers to reach out. It –this bear thing- was…plushy. Gosh this creature was really soft and…

A loud bang caused Bella to sit back in terror as she looked towards the direction of Paul's man house. He was home now. Quickly she turned back to her bear friend wondering what she should do. It was gone.

"Urchin?" the Paul man yelled coming back outside and startling her thoughts about the missing creature.

_Oh no. He would find her out here and wonder why she had a backpack and was dressed warmly._

Scrambling to her feet, she tossed the backpack into a bush, thoughts of coming back out later to properly hide the food and then return the pack. Bella really hoped he wouldn't notice the missing blanket, she didn't have time to try to shove it under her bulky jacket and smuggle it back inside.

"Urchin?" he called again, a lot closer and more panicky sounding.

Bella moved a few feet through the forest before emerging, not wanting to give away her exact spot to the Paul man in case he decided to look around. Staring at her feet, she stepped away from the pine beds on to grass, waiting for the questions and probably a few well deserved smacks for leaving the house without permission.

"Jesus, Urchin, what the hell are you doing out here by yourself? Are you okay?" The Paul man demanded.

Bella found herself picked up and embraced tightly, a funny feeling in her stomach. He sounded really scared and angry, but his touches weren't mean. In fact, he was being extremely gentle, one arm under her rump to act as a seat and the other braced vertically up her spine, the hand cupping the back of her head to his shoulder.

"Did something scare you, Urchin? I wasn't gone that long was I?"He asked while hugging her tightly into his chest. "Fuck, I knew I should've told Collin to fuck off and not left you alone."

The Paul man kept muttering bad words and apologizes mixed together as he carried her back to the house. Bella allowed herself to relax, thinking she would be okay and a bit happy he was concerned for her. It wasn't like she had missed him-missed him and panicked because he left, but nobody had ever convincingly told her they were concerned about what happened. The funny feeling was sort of addicting.

He sat her on the couch, unzipping her coat to hang up, still offering apologies and mutterings. When Bella pulled her left arm free of the sleeve and then twisted so Paul could pull the right one, his nose started to flare.

Extremely gentle Paul man vanished.

"Who was outside with you?" he asked in a scary voice.

Shaking her head negatively Bella tried to tell him no one had been outside with her, the bear beast being an animal and not a person.

"Did he show himself?" Paul demanded his rage sky rocketing. His urchin didn't need to lie and he also didn't really need her to tell him who _he_ was. The wolf's scent was all over the fucking place.

His voice lost volume, but not ire as he continued to question his girl; fearful and angered over what she might have witnessed. "Did you see a wolf?"

Bella still shook her head. She knew a wolf was like a dog and that was no doggie that had been sitting with her.

"Did you see an animal?" The Paul man continued to ask in a very scary yell. "A large fucking dog; bigger than anything imaginable and with light colored fur?"

This time she froze mid-denial. The Paul man thought it was a dog, but Bella knew it had been some type of bear. His description, though, was too close to what she had seen.

"He approached you?" Paul screamed taking a step back as the rage consumed him. Of all the goddamn, fucked up things a pack mate could do, this had to take the cake.

He couldn't stop his own anger as his urchin lowered her eyes in fear and shame. Dropping the forgotten coat from his fingers, Paul grabbed his phone, not giving a shit about whatever he had previously promised his Alpha.

The phone rang and rang finally going to voicemail. Paul continued his incoherent swearing and curses, not in a way that could be thought of as a message, but enough for Sam to realize he had one angry wolf awaiting his call.

"Don't you dare fucking leave this house," Paul threatened to his girl when the message beeped the end of its recording. He tossed aside the phone and slammed out into the back yard.

He was able to disrobe most of his clothing save his socks before bursting into a snarling beast behind the tree line. He didn't need to track the trail to find his target, but did so anyway, the wolf within taking control as nature whizzed past the enraged animal.

"Paul?" came a surprised thought. "What's wrong? She went back inside didn't she?"

Paul could hear the man through the wolf link and blocked it out, intent on hurting the other wolf who had dared to approach his girl. Thoughts of rage blinded his intentions and need, the other wolf waiting passively for his brethren to make physical contact which came quickly.

Despite the wolf controlled behavior, Paul gave no growl or snarl of warning seconds before he rammed his body into the other wolf, his teeth attempting to gain purchase through the furred neck. His victim reared back and twisted away, confused, but intelligent enough to know this was not a joke.

For nearly fifteen minutes, the wolves battled, one projecting a steady stream of violence and the other trying to figure out what had set him off. Had Paul's imprint been hurt in some way, there was no way he would suddenly be here this quickly and definitely not without thoughts of her injury.

Paul was usually angry and violent, but it was often short lived, dwindling away as quickly as it had risen and with it, his need to remain a wolf.

"How the fuck could you expose us like that?" Paul growled out to the wolf once he had decided to expel his rage with fists instead of fur. His anger had yet to dissipate as he stalked closer on two legs.

"I didn't mean to show her. Paul, she was crying and had tried to climb the tree. I was worried she had hurt herself," Seth tried to explain, shifting back once he was sure Paul wouldn't phase again.

"You could've phased, changed into a man and approached her," Paul continued to yell, taking a swing at Seth as the younger male dodged out of the way.

Paul could definitely beat the shit out of him, but with his extra bulk came a slower approach. Just enough for him to continue this lethal game of dodge and weave.

"I wasn't thinking," Seth yelled back from behind a pine separating them. "I haven't seen her since the first day you brought her home and she surprised me."

"Surprised you?" Paul asked, stopping mid stride to stare at Seth like a piece of shit. "What the fuck do you think she felt when she saw your form? You could've given her a damn heart attack."

Paul's halt caused Seth to do so too, and it was in those few seconds, Paul lunged and grabbed Seth, pulling him clear of the trees to pounce on him in the yard. He continued to rain blows upon the other man, his fear and anger no longer two, but one emotion.

Seth could've howled. He could've yelled for back up and another wolf would probably have been over in a matter of minutes to help contain the pack psycho. Even with the look of death Paul was shooting at him, Seth felt he owed it to the man to keep it between them. With a surprise punch landed to Paul's throat, the attacker stumbled back on a choke.

Neither man had been cognizant of a third party.

"Oh my god!" Claudia yelled in distress. "Paul, stop it! Stop hitting him."

It was a delayed demand since Paul was already several feet away from Seth and massaging his throat in an attempt to regain his vocal chords to continue to yell. Seth did look like hell but when his imprint's voice cut through the tension, he leaned up on his elbows, in pain and gasping for air a little bit as well. Imprints were known to help center a wolf, yet when Claudia flung herself to the ground to wrap around Seth, his pain flared up.

"Get away from here, Paul. Just go home and don't come back. I cannot believe you," Claudia sobbed, clutching to Seth. Her wolf was bruised and torn up, but not much more than Paul was.

He stared at the girl clutching her wolf and his gut twisted uncomfortably. He wanted that! He wanted an imprint that loved him unconditionally and was willing to throw herself between two males fighting regardless of the circumstances. The wolf in him, the man that was his soul, wanted a woman that would put him on an imaginary pedestal and look nowhere else for anything she might desire because he was the answer.

Instead, he had a girl that couldn't even say his name and it burned.

Limping back into the woods without a backwards glance, Paul checked to make sure he hadn't broken anything. He felt like shit and would probably be bruised for a day or so, but he was fit enough to phase and did so, his grey fur erupting like a rippling canvas.

The spilt blood pulled at his wolf body, telling him he couldn't go back home looking like this. Detouring by a pond to wash away the signs of his fight, the frigid water caused him to shake once at the coldness as it sluiced over his nude body to remove the evidence.

Outside of his own house, Paul caught sight of a brown lump that looked like…it was! Reaching into a shrub, he pulled out a cloth backpack that had last been seen stored in the hallway closet. Why the fuck was it out here? Unzipping the bag, he could only stare at the cans of food and Urchin's blanket.

_Had he she been trying to leave? _

The evidence of his imprint trying to escape catapulted him right back to where he had been when Claudia had appeared. He still didn't have any type of fucking clue as to how he needed to help his girl and apparently she didn't want his fucking help. Not if she was trying to leave!

She was still glued to the couch, her eyes wide and blank when Paul finally came home. He stopped in the doorway, all of his previous despair momentarily pushed away once he saw her. He wanted to comfort her, let her cry on his shoulder…well maybe not cry, but a sniffle or two and then kiss her until she smiled. It was impossible, though. Not when he knew he had deliberately put that look on her face. Turning, he went in to the kitchen, mechanically preparing dinner, unaware that he was making spaghetti.

When it was done and he had prepared a salad, he carried it to the dining room, making several trips to bring in the necessary dining ware, drinks and condiments.

"Urchin, food," Paul announced in an equally dead voice as he sat down.

He wasn't aware that he watched her hesitant steps; that it was the wolf within who had gained the upper hand and was observing its hesitant mate. He made no move to converse with her when he ate, the wolf watching attentively from his peripheral as his urchin leaned close to her plate, her bites—mostly finger grabs - small and measured, so as not to draw attention from him.

When he was done, he stood abruptly, his imprint's fork clattering to the table when he moved. He didn't ask her anything or take her food away, locked in his own thoughts. He didn't notice when he sat on the couch that it was close to an hour later when she finally appeared to sit at the far end as well.

It was hours before his stupor lifted again, the TV running infomercials while his girl huddled asleep and uncomfortably far away from him. It wasn't a true sleep, his girl was restless. Turning the volume down low and shutting off the visual portion of his entertainment center, he finally reached for her to hold like a kid.

It was her shivering that penetrated his senses first, the man frowning as he searched for the blanket, remembering that it had been in the backpack he had gathered from outside. Carrying his urchin along for the ride, Paul found the pack and pulled the blanket out before returning to the couch. Fully ensconced in fleece, he cradled her, thoughts of what had happened in the past few hours marring any joy or happiness in the privilege.

"I'm so sorry, Urchin," he croaked out to the slumbering figure, his head dropping to press against hers. "I'm not mad at you; just worried. Please don't hold it against me."

Softly he nuzzled her face, delivering innocent kisses against her cheeks, forehead, closed eyelids and finally her lips. When his clock chimed midnight he shifted, lifting his legs to the couch and placing his imprint between him and cushions. If this was the only time he could have with her, Paul Lahote would take it.


	17. Chapter 16

**A/N:** Bella's thought process is not always coherent. If it sounds redundant, it probably is. Kudos to my beta, ShadowPast620 and wolfy hugs&kisses to my reviewers.

Several times throughout the night, Bella would sit straight up, wide awake and breathing heavily in fear. She was alone and on the couch, but the area around her felt warm, like the Paul man had been there. He wasn't, though.

By the third awakening, Bella pushed aside the fuzzy blanket to get up. Her hands froze when it became apparent that this wasn't the blanket from her bed, but the one she had left outside in the backpack. If he had found the bag, that meant he had found the food, too. Her gulp of apprehension was almost audible in the dark living room.

She warred with her desire to get up and find something to eat, the idea of having lost a future meal making her stomach grumble in protest. She could go without eating for days, a lifestyle born from years of making do when need be. What she couldn't understand was the occasional desperation she felt when a food source was lost or taken from her. Her tummy would cramp and tighten, more so than on the days when she was still searching for something to eat. There was something inherently devastating about losing a meal just within her grasp and nothing Bella thought or did could tame the cramping.

Trying to ignore the other obvious problem, her misplaced but found blanket, Bella got off the couch to head to the kitchen. She couldn't remember when she had eaten last, although she must have had something. Her stomach felt hollow, but it wasn't tugging at her in pain. Maybe she could snag a piece of bread?

If she could find it.

The kitchen was just as dark as the rest of the house and Bella bumped into a few corners and cabinets until she was certain she was in the right room. Trailing her fingers along the countertops, she paused at the side of the fridge. Was this where the bread would be?

It seemed like a logical choice since she knew he kept most of the food here except the cans and boxed stuff. Bella jumped in surprise when the door seal gave a funny huff, cold air escaping outward and the kitchen lighting up from the open door. Looking back towards the doorway, she wanted to make sure the light wasn't attracting the attention of the Paul man.

When he didn't appear, Bella went back to looking in the fridge. There wasn't any bread; there was hardly anything in there. Her tummy didn't seem to care that the pickings were slim and in desperation she grabbed a slice of cheese, her hands shaking as the plastic wrapping sounded loud to her ears when she unwrapped the yellowish orange square.

Bella had no idea that the Paul man was watching her, silently and out of view from her. When she shut the fridge and the light dissipated, she hungrily chewed and swallowed the food. She could have used some more pieces to ease her aching tummy, but was worried that she would be caught or that the food would be missed if too many pieces vanished.

Satisfied that she would be okay until tomorrow, Bella padded back to the living room frowning at the couch. The Paul man had gone to so much trouble to get her a bed and yet she was more comfortable on the couch? She felt like she was being rude somehow, choosing to sleep on the couch rather than the bed.

The minutes clicked by slowly as Bella debated crawling back onto the couch. Never once did she notice the lingering shadow of the man desperate for her to pick a place to sleep. He had no idea of her internal debate, but refused to move for fear of scaring her. The only sign of relief came from two different forms for two different reasons. Bella finally chose the couch to resume sleeping; stretching lengthwise into the back cushions for comfort. She breathed deeply into the land of slumber, unaware that the Paul man's scent lulled her body into comfort.

Paul waited anxiously for his mate to sleep, trembling with unease at being unable to comfort her normally. When her breathing indicated she was truly unaware of his presence, he crept back to the edge of the couch, easing in alongside his mate and placing a protective arm over her waist.

For reasons Paul refused to elaborate on, he was sickened. His urchin had never slept well and often awoke, but he had never seen her pillage for food. He knew damn well he had made dinner for them and the wolf within howled mournfully that its mate had not eaten her full share. His last coherent thoughts were of how to make sure she ate enough, and if not, wasn't scared to eat whatever she wanted, later.

*&%$

Bella woke up once again on the couch, ignorant of last night's fridge trip. She didn't mind waking up here since it was further away from windows than the bed the Paul man had gotten her and with its plushy back, she could almost pretend it was similar to a cubby hole…except more comfortable. A sound of irritation caused her head to jerk towards the kitchen suddenly.

"Yeah, well, his fucking ass shouldn't have gotten that close to her. I swear to fuck, if you don't put his sorry ass on a leash when it comes to Urchin then I will. Preferably wrapped tightly around his neck and hanging from a tree!" The Paul man's voice grew in anger.

Cringing, Bella wondered if he was talking to the bear's owner. Nothing bad had happened, but the Paul man obviously didn't like animals if he wanted to hurt it.

"Apologize, my ass! If he wants a fucking apology, his sorry ass can trot on over here and deliver one to Urchin for scaring her….No! She didn't say she was scared, but what the fuck do you think she felt? Giddiness?"

Scrunching her face, Bella tried to follow the conversation. Did the Paul man think her bear friend could tell her it was sorry for appearing in his yard? That made no sense whatsoever. Obviously she was only hearing parts of the conversation and lacked the knowledge of exactly what he was talking about.

"And what the fuck are you going to do about it, Uley? Command my ass to say I'm fucking sorry? I'm not, you know…..HA! Even your girl thinks he should've stayed away…"

Uley? Bella thought she had heard that word before, but maybe not. Sitting up fully, she tried to lean towards the area the Paul man appeared to be in, hoping to hear more of what he was saying. Unfortunately his voice dropped and she could no longer figure out what the conversation was about. She did hear when he finally let out another stream of bad words before a snap could be heard; probably his phone closing.

When Bella realized the Paul man wasn't making any noise to tell her what was going on, she decided to see for herself. He had been scary last night and she needed to make sure her presence was still welcome. Pulling the blanket away from her, she froze.

This was the blanket she had left outside, in the backpack hidden in a bush and yet, it was now back inside. Her fear sky-rocketed to the point that she almost didn't want to leave the safety of the couch. _Would he yell at her? Call her a thief like she rightly deserved?_ The sharp tingling sound of metal snapping coming from the kitchen startled her. She felt bad for stealing and maybe if he was angry enough, she could give him a parting gift of thanks by speaking.

She folded her blanket and left it perched on the couch before cautiously ambling to the kitchen. She would let him hit her if need be, but she still wasn't looking forward to it. Maybe all of those times the demons had called her stupid were correct. Why else would someone of her size and stature accept a punishment she had spent most of her life trying to avoid?

Peering around the corner, Bella watched as the Paul man stood leaning over the sink. His shoulders looked slumped and tired as if he hadn't slept very well. She hadn't either, not really. During the night she had awoken several times from dreams of being transported back to the cold and unforgiving Underground. Mentally shrugging, she assumed it had something to do with her anxiety over the blanket and nothing else.

When the Paul man moved away from the sink, she froze, wondering if she should have made a noise to let him know she was there.

"Good morning, Urchin," he mumbled, giving her a quick glance before opening the fridge to stare inside. "There aren't any more eggs. We'll definitely have to go shopping today, but for now we can just eat some cereal, okay?"

Bella continued to watch silently as he slammed the milk on the counter and then opened a cabinet to remove a box of food.

"Cereal is a pretty shitty breakfast, I know, but it's better than nothi…What the fuck is this shit and how the hell did I miss it when I unpacked the bags?" The Paul man said, abruptly changing subjects and causing Bella to flinch away.

"He must have had Nadine with him, cause I know sure as shit that Jake wouldn't choose this gruel." Holding the box up for her inspection, the Paul man waited for her to make some type of indication as he shook a bright yellow colored box. "It's Cheerios; the shitty kind minus any flavoring like honey nut or apple cinnamon," he continued to complain.

Still not knowing why this might be important, Bella could only give him a wide eyed look which must have been a good thing because his face softened as he dropped the box on the counter.

"It's okay, Urchin. We can put extra sugar on this crap and when we go shopping later on, we'll buy something chocolate and unhealthy. Maybe even something with chocolate and marshmallows, for good measure."

The idea of food shopping seemed to make the Paul man happy and for once, Bella thought she could understand. It must be a very joyful experience to know that you could walk into a store and buy whatever pleased you because you had money to pay for it and no one would yell, or throw things at you, or threaten to call the police if you didn't leave immediately. The more she fantasized, the happier Bella got, too. The clothes shopping thing hadn't gone as planned, but this time the Paul man had already said they'd be walking together at all times so she could help him pick stuff out.

Bella didn't plan to make more than a couple of choices and probably not even real choices when it came to buying food. She would watch the Paul man and see what he liked or didn't like. If something really stuck out for her, she could always use the hover hand thing, watching his face closely for signs of approval or displeasure.

Mostly, though, Bella was just excited at the idea of being in a store filled with nothing but food. The Paul man might even let her push the cart a few times so she could pretend to be a normal person who had the means and ability to shop whenever they liked.

She tried to smile to brightly when Paul poured the cereal into two bowls and then sprinkled sugar on it. She did wilt slightly once the milk was poured. If luck continued to remain on her side, he wouldn't notice when she ate her cereal quickly by hand to avoid most of the milk and snag some of pieces to store away for later safe keeping.

He didn't need to say anything else when heading for the dining room, Bella trailing after him to sit in the same seat she had been. Her luck got even better once he placed both bowls down and then returned to the kitchen to make coffee. The minute she heard the water running, Bella scooped up a handful of her cereal that was floating on top and barely soggy. She also made a daring move to do the same to the his; taking the drier pieces to stash away and replacing the one missing from his bowl with soggy finger-full's from her own.

When the Paul man came back into the room, Bella hastened to pick up her spoon and try to use it to eat what was left of her cereal and avoid the milk.

"Urchin…did you really eat all of that?" he asked, setting a mug down next to her and then sitting in his own chair.

Guiltily she looked up, wondering if her attempt at being stealthy was about to backfire again. Trying to look at him directly while also eyeing his own bowl, Bella was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to tell it had been replaced.

"Do you want more?" he asked, picking up his own spoon to eat a few bites and then frowning. "That's fucking nasty," he complained after swallowing the first bite.

Bella's eyes dropped back to her own bowl, waiting for him to call her out on the exchange, her hand already inching towards the sweater pocket that held a good handful of Cheerios.

"Never mind, Urchin. We'll just eat lunch earlier than normal to make up for this crap. I wouldn't force this shit on a starving person if they paid me," Paul remarked casually, missing her flinch as he continued to grimace with every bite he ate.

It took a few minutes of silence before he cleared his throat. "Shit. That came out wrong, Urchin. I'm really sorry if my comment hurt your feelings, okay?"

Bella gave him a small smile as an unnecessary acceptance. He hadn't hurt her feelings at all. She knew if a person was starving they probably didn't have any money. The Paul man may not like the taste of the cereal, but they weren't bad…if she could avoid the milk.

Slurping her coffee, Bella wondered if he expected her to eat everything in the bowl considering the size. These weren't like the soup kitchen Styrofoam dishes: normal sized, only half filled and even then she was never able to scrape it clean on the few lucky occasions she had managed to arrive at meal times. What she wasn't wondering about was the Paul man's own feelings of guilt and his voice caused her to halt.

"So as long as I'm apologizing…about last night…" Trailing off, he waited until Bella looked up from her mug.

Last night had been weird, but he had nothing to apologize for. She had gone outside without permission and he had learned about it. The fault obviously lay with her. However, the Paul man felt differently.

"Look, Urchin, I'm not good with this shit, but I felt like a fucking skid stain for yelling at you like that. I was angry and…" Dropping his voice, the Paul man was whispering. "I wasn't thinking rationally and I really fucking hope you'll forgive me?"

Immediately, Bella began to shake her head, not understanding why he was saying sorry and worried this was the beginning to a goodbye. She had once again failed to let him know she was okay with what had been happening; that it was really her fault and he didn't need to feel bad about her mistakes.

"Urchin…I just…fuck!" Paul stood up suddenly to reposition himself in front of her, on his knees and clasping her hands. "I'm so fucking sorry if I scared you, or hurt your feelings, or made you feel bad. I know I can be an asshole, but I swear, I'd never fucking hurt you. Never!"

He wasn't crying, but Bella was. She didn't know why he felt so emotional about her feelings, his own raw and exposed for her to see, and that saddened her. She, Bella, was a simple riff-raff waif, an urchin from the Underground and did not deserve to have things explained. She wanted to stay and make him happy for being so nice, regardless if it meant she had to leave sooner or later.

With no words she could speak or write, Bella pulled one of her hands away gently and ran it across the bridge of his nose, letting her fingers rest on his lips.

"Please, Urchin, I…" the Paul man tried to explain, but Bella knew it wasn't necessary. She pressed her fingers against his lips to prevent him from speaking. She was okay with the way he needed to act, the yelling, screaming and scariness, too.

Bella had never willingly kissed another person even though she had been kissed and mauled multiple times and yet, something about the warm flesh of his lips pressed against her fingers allowed for the movement to lean forward, drop her fingers and press her own lips against his.

Paul's mind stalled, sputtered and then gave out when his Urchin pressed her fingers against his lips. Her hands weren't soft, calloused and peeling from the abuse of living on the streets, yet nothing could have compared to the emotional intent behind the action. His faulty imprint was trying to share herself and both Paul and the wolf greedily drank at the offering.

As the neurons began to sluggishly reengage, he thought it was a goodbye. This was it, his girl had finally had enough and despite his apology, she wanted to leave. Paul didn't want to be some caveman dick that had to keep his woman locked up for her own good. He also sure as hell didn't want her to flounce away over a fucked up incident that was more than likely to happen again but didn't mean he was angry at her!

Eyes wide open, Paul could see every feature of the woman he was destined to be with, inching towards him slowly, but fast enough to scatter his thoughts again. She was going to scream; she was going to spit; she was going to bite him; she was going to try and motherfucking head-butt him and even with the knowledge he deserved all of that and then some, her lips pressed against his.

Paul had no idea what the hell he was supposed to do! This wasn't erotic or kinky. She wasn't kissing him in a lustful fervor, or in the hopes of getting off. Her pale, chapped lips pressed tightly against his fuller ones as a way to honestly communicate her acceptance of Paul, the man.

The wolf was there, under the skin and it vibrated in gleeful excitement. Impatient to consummate the bond, it, too, knew this was a positive step in the right direction. Remaining hidden inside of Paul until further steps could be made didn't bother it one fucking bit and Paul finally relaxed.

Accepting the soft pressure, he returned the gesture, dropping her other hand to wrap his arms around her and pull forward. It was kind of awkward, her back partially hunched over to reach his mouth and kneeling form, however, short of a leech magically appearing in the same room, Paul was not about to bitch.

Being gentle as he moved his lips over hers was a move he had experienced many times with other chicks and Paul damn well knew what the hell he was doing and how to make it count. Somewhere in the back of his mind, there was a shitty voice telling him he needed to remember to…

Urchin's lips parted slightly and any mental pondering shit disappeared as Paul gave all of his control over to his hands that reached for her head and his lips and tongue which plunged into her mouth. If werewolf hunting speed was fast paced, it couldn't even begin to hold a candle against werewolf arousal speed.

Positioned this close, literally inside part of his girl, Paul was finally in fucking Heaven! She was calm, collected, had instigated the move and seemed to be not only fully cognizant, but eager to participate considering she had opened her mouth.

He tried not to reel back in panic when the taste of her fear vibrated slightly against his own plundering lips. It wasn't overwhelming or heavy, only a slight acidic tang that began to mar her presence, but it was enough to break through his own euphoria of happiness and end the kissing.

Pulling away, he hovered mere centimeters away from her face, cataloguing the look to memory. Her features were mostly blank with a hint of embarrassment and Paul mentally sighed in relief that he hadn't completely fucked this up. He also wasn't cocky enough to ignore the fact that he would fuck up, but this was at least a goddamn start in the right fucking direction for once.

"Urchin, I really hope that was your acceptance of my apology and if it was, I'd be happy to say sorry like that for a few more hours," Paul said, hoping she'd give a physical sign of being able to handle this, whatever _it_ was, changing between them.

In a way, he supposed, she had, as he watched her sit back, not cowering or fidgeting…much. She was looking at the ground, barely breathing and Paul struggled to make sense of what else he should say. He wanted to tell her this shit was normal; kissing him for whatever reason she wished and if he had been a pansy douche like that, he probably would've have. Instead, he took one last stare at her, stood up and offered his hand again.

"Come on, Urchin. We should get ready to go food shopping." His girl still refused to look up, but at least she didn't pull away when he ushered her to her room to change.

In her room, alone, Bella tried to understand what had taken place between her and the Paul man. After days of being careful and trying to protect herself, she had followed some weird feeling in her chest that told her to comfort him and he had responded.

She couldn't deny that the kissing had been pleasant even though she felt awkward for starting it. The Paul man wasn't like any of the other people she had come in contact with: men who started their actions violently and usually left in the same fashion as she lay somewhere trying not to cry out loud.

Bella tried to squish the feelings of hopefulness welling up in her chest. The Paul man was just that, a man, and sooner or later he would show his true colors and hurt her in an unforgivable way. Again, Bella knew she didn't want to be hurt, but she had nothing to offer for this man's niceness. Nothing, except the allowance for him to do as he pleased.

Bella knew her life was on a short time frame. Street rats rarely lived very long, the demons had told her that many times. And while she didn't want to die in pain and agony, the small amounts of happiness and relief the Paul man offered outweighed the amounts of despair and torture he was sure to eventually inflict.

Slowly and robotically, she changed her clothes, choosing one of the nice outfits he had purchased for her without payment. Detaching from her thoughts and feelings, Bella retreated back to simple survival mode where it was non-confusing and quiet. The place where life happened and Bella could observe as a bystander and not a participant.

Grocery shopping to Paul was like any other mundane chore on the planet. You grabbed a cart, trudged up and down numerous cramped aisles and put shit in it, nothing special. Having his urchin go with him didn't change that aspect one fucking bit. It was, however, way fucking different than he expected.

He grabbed a metal cart –predictably the loudest, squeakiest shitter that needed oil—and started in the produce section for reasons his mind balked at. This crap was basically useless to his metabolism and aside from the occasional added flavor certain things gave, like onions or peppers, he tried to avoid the section.

His urchin was trailing behind him like a snail, a nervous about-to-freak-the-fuck-out-at-any-second snail.

"I don't usually eat any of this crap, but feel free to get whatever you want, okay, Urchin?" he told her, not wanting to rush this shit, but he sure as hell didn't want to spend half an hour debating over the pros and cons of cabbage versus lettuce.

Apparently she held similar beliefs because Urchin didn't reach for any goddamn thing, constantly looking at him and then back to their surroundings as if she had never done this shit before.

"Look," Paul explained, stopping the cart to turn around and face his girl after five minutes of walking and the cart still being empty. "I'm gonna grab some fruit and if you don't want it, just shake your head."

His urchin neither shook nor nodded her head at his words, the situation quickly became a fucked up game as Paul decided to deliberately add some of everything he came across: bananas, oranges, tangerines, apples, pears, berries…he stopped from throwing in a pack of both blueberries and raspberries. Those fuckers were a bit expensive and if she really wanted them, he'd get it, but only if he knew for a fact she would eat them.

"Do you have a preference, Urchin?" he asked holding both containers in front of her. She stared at the plastic crates and then flung her eyes up to look at him before dropping to look at the fruit again. "I don't care either way and if you want both, we can get them, but you haven't said no yet and I find it hard to believe that everything is your favorite."

It was the slowest fucking motion he had ever watched, her hand lifting centimeters at a time and creeping forward still wavering between the two. Finally she briefly touched the blueberries, yanked her hand away and then looked up to see what he thought. Paul just smiled.

"The blueberries are the ones you want?" he asked for clarification. A quick nod and he dropped them into the cart. "What about the other shit in there? If you want it, it's yours, but I'm gonna be pissed if that shit spoils cause you don't eat it."

The scene repeated itself: His girl moving slow as fuck to briefly tap against the apples he had thrown in. "You don't want apples?" He questioned, an odd expression flashing quickly across both of their faces as he removed the bag. "That's fine. What about the oranges and tangerines, or the pears?"

Paul was again surprised when she seemed to want to keep the citrus, but indicated for the Bartlett pears to go and then three steps away hovered near the Anjou pears. He had no idea how she would know the difference in taste between the two and shrugged it off as unimportant weirdness.

His girl didn't seem to be much of a decision maker and Paul finally found it was easier to just shop as he normally did and wait for her to either point to something different or shake her head altogether. Neither happened unless Paul goaded the issue.

Urchin turned a little peaked when he grabbed for the raw hamburger, steaks and chicken, eliciting another round of 'Do you like this/want this' and her just obsessively agreeing to everything without really looking at what he was talking about.

The entire fifteen minutes of choosing meat left Paul irritated and grumpy. Obviously she didn't like it, but refused to say so. He knew she wasn't a vegetarian, having happily consumed meatballs, sausage, meats on the pizza and ham sandwiches over the last few days. What the hell was going on?

He was beyond distracted in the cereal aisle and made his choices based on what looked the unhealthiest. Urchin didn't even twitch.

The junk food aisle once again surprised the shit out of Paul. Not only did his girl seem to hover in front of every damn brand of cookie, he would've sworn her eyes glowed in excitement when it came to the containers of individual servings.

After nearly two hours, Paul was ready to drop to his knees and pray in thankfulness this expedition was finally fucking over as they made their way to the checkout lane. That feeling was quickly cut short.

"Hey, Paul," a voice called out, causing his girl to quickly turn around to face the speaker, but also to position herself behind him. The wolf within both grinned in triumph over its mate trusting him to protect her and snarled in anger that someone was causing her to freak.

"Jack," Paul acknowledged the greeter, dropping his right arm from the cart to wrap around his girl behind him. She may not have relaxed when his fingers brushed against her spine, but the wolf was at least tempered. Slightly.

"Haven't seen you in awhile. How's it going?" the stranger greeted Paul, hyperaware of the female he was trying to hide.

"Good. Been busy," Paul answered in short, clipped words, hoping to hell the guy would suddenly vanish. He wasn't claustrophobic, but damned if the walls didn't feel like they were closing in on him!

"Yeah…I can see that," Jack trailed off, observing the girl practically glued to the area's Play Boy. "Amber was over at our usual hang out a couple of weeks ago. Man, if I were you, I'd stay clear of her. She seems to think you used her."

"Probably," Paul agreed without a care in the world. "She knew what it was about before we hooked up and when the fun was over, she thought we'd move on to a different stage."

"Uh huh," Jack agreed still eyeing Paul's urchin. The chick wasn't Paul's usual type, this one being all innocent and clingy and Jack figured he had moved on to a new type of play thing. She was attractive enough for Paul's tastes, but something felt off. "You gonna introduce me?"

What the fuck was Paul supposed to say? Jack didn't know about the tribe's secret and he sure as hell wouldn't understand the concept even if he were to explain imprinting. Paul wasn't ashamed of his girl and he sure as hell had no intentions of keeping her hidden from the world, but he did have a fucked up reputation and most would just assume she was his new sex candy.

"She's my roommate," Paul blurted out in desperation. It was kind of true, although outside of the pack, no one would believe that Urchin was only a roommate.

Jack hooted in amusement. "You're renting out part of your pad? That sounds crazy as shit and not at all like you, Lahote."

"She's a family friend," Paul explained, mixing half truths and lies. His pack was kind of like family and Urchin would definitely be a friend to them, Leah already thought of the girl as a sister. "She needed a change of scenery and I offered to let her stay with me," _forever, but Jack didn't need to know that shit._

"Well since she's living here, can I at least know her name?" Jack asked before trying to lean around Paul and sticking out his hand. "Hi. Name's Jack and you are?"

Paul could feel the terror of his imprint blasting against his backside and had to swallow several times before he flipped the fuck out and began screaming at the douche for scaring her shitless. "She goes by Arial, but right now we need to go back home. She has a sore throat and talking makes it worse." _God,_ _the lies were getting shittier by the second._ "I'm sure I'll see you around," Paul hastened to end the conversation.

Had Paul been able to read Jack's thoughts, he probably would've lost the fight of his wolf's anger. Jack had an incorrect, but plausible idea as to why Arial had a sore throat.

"Yeah, okay, Lahote. Go take _care_ of your roommate. I'll make sure to tell Amber the next time I run into her that she has been duly and notably replaced." With a final sleazy wink, Jack sauntered off, mentally chuckling over the luckiness Lahote seemed to achieve all the damn time when it came to females.

Paul waited until they were back in the jeep before trying to talk to his girl. "Shit, Urchin, I'm fucking sorry about that asswipe. I went to school with him and sometimes we'd see each other at a nearby bar I used to visit. Amber, though, is not an issue. I dumped her ass weeks ago and have no interest in her whatsoever."

Still hunched in on herself with her head bowed, Paul struggled to think of what he could say to make this shit right. Obviously she was pissed about the idea of him being with another chick and _that_ he could understand. The fact that she had been frightened at Jack's approach and not his conversation regarding someone she had never met, completely slipped by his notice.

"Let's just get the fuck out of here, okay?" Paul more explained than asked as he started his jeep. With one final glance at his huddling girl, he took off for home. Aside from the kiss, this was turning into shit-filled day.

Except for the kiss.

She had initiated that shit on her own and Paul figured since it hadn't been out of fear, and she had already shown a willingness for sex in general, his relationship wasn't quite as damaged as he had first suspected.

Paul Lahote was no fucking Romeo, but that kiss had been poetry all on its own!

After putting all their crap away and Paul taking extra time to make sure Urchin helped, so she would know where to find everything, he tried to convince his girl to share something about herself. It wasn't like he could ask thought provoking questions –not like he really knew what fucking good it would do if she had readily available answers anyways—but he was kind of tired of not doing anything fun.

He did feel like a retard asking his girl if she had any hobbies she enjoyed, although what was he supposed to do? After sitting at the table for twenty minutes, drumming his fingers and muttering undecipherable phrases, inspiration struck. However, his girl also chose at that moment to yawn widely, her eyes drooping sleepily.

Any ideas he had were immediately put on the back burner and Paul decided to encourage his girl back to her room, knowing she'd probably curl up in bed to nap. Trying to sound sincere as fuck, Paul faked his own yawn, choosing at the last minute to raise a fist and cover his mouth.

"I don't know about you, Urchin, but I could go for a nap. Do you mind if I saw some zee's for a bit?" Paul asked, trying to hunch his frame and look sleepy, too.

Bleary eyed, she raised her head to shake a 'no'. Prodding was unnecessary when she stumbled up and out of her chair to walk to her room. Paul had to grip his chair to keep from following. He wasn't tired enough to need a nap, but the idea of a midday cud...comfort session, made his wolf yelp in glee.

His urchin fell asleep quickly, both comforting and worrying Paul as he listened to the tell tale signs of her breathing indicating she was no longer awake. Last night she had spent more time in a zoned state of mind rather than awake or asleep, and that bothered him more than he liked. He felt like shit for scaring her, shittier still for the reason that had caused him to react. If it weren't for the light of day, he would have happily crawled into her room to be close to his mate.

Instead, Paul forced himself to resituate himself in the living room, slightly dozing, but mostly contemplating ways to make his girl open up and trust him completely.

The bang of the front door opening caused Paul to drop his feet from the coffee table, a look of disgust on his face when Collin, Denise and Leah barged into the place like they fucking owned it.

"Collin you have about ten damn seconds to find a safe spot for the imprints before I tear you a new one," he spat out lowly, sitting on the edge of the couch and ready to launch.

"Where's your girl?" Leah barked out in a no nonsense fashion, waving off Collin as he moved to stand protectively in front of them. As an imprint, Leah didn't really hold control over any of the wolves, but as the Alpha's imprint, she was able to somewhat manipulate the younger ones in her favor.

"She's taking a nap," Paul said, glaring at Leah. "For how long will depend on your ability to keep your loud ass mouth shut when you prance back to never-never-wherever-the-fuck-you-came-from land."

"I told you we should've called," Denise whispered to Leah. She wasn't exactly scared, not with her man nearby, but Paul looked more pissed off than he usually did.

"Yes, you should've," Paul agreed before turning to give the other wolf a sinister look. "Collin? Remove imprints? Prepare for ass kicking? Remember?"

"Shove off, Paul," Leah spat out in a quieter voice than she had been using. "You don't own Arial. We've come to visit."

"I'm so sorry," Paul mocked in false sweetness. "Visiting hours for the imaginary mermaid do not exist."

"And she wouldn't be imaginary if you'd let us visit. Look!" A plastic binder hit the coffee table in front of Paul, Leah grinning triumphantly.

"If Nadine found a mermaid to take fake pictures of, I'm not buying it," Paul replied, pushing the binder away.

"Those aren't fish pictures, you dick," Leah huffed out in exasperation. "They're names."

"What the fuck did you do? Print out missing persons reports?" Paul asked, wondering if his Alpha's mate had finally flipped her lid. The untouched folder in front of him had at least a hundred pages to it.

"Oh, for the love of…" bending over Leah grabbed the untouched binder to open. "These are possible names of your imprint. At least, ones she could have and first names only."

"That's a lot of fucking names," Paul remarked hollowly. "Did you print out a book of every goddamn name in the world?"

Leah gave Denise a knowing smirk before turning back to scowl and address Paul. "Sort of. Denise was at Emily's house last night when I stopped by and they were looking up baby names and it had a search engine to narrow down names by nationality."

"And what?" Paul asked, unimpressed by the effort of the imprints. "Did the Magic 8-ball suddenly reveal what nationality Urchin is? I gotta say, I'm pretty fucking sure she's American."

"No, we based our search on physical traits. I mean, clearly Arial isn't Latino or of Native American descent."

"But she is American, the melting pot of everything. This is stupid." Reclining back into the couch, Paul continued to glare at Collin for allowing this interruption of his already fucked up day.

"No, it isn't and it's all we have." Picking up the binder, Leah began to flip through the pages again, skimming the hundreds of names that could really be Arial's. Good god, the poor girl owned nothing. The very least they could do was give her back her real name. Paul, the ass, apparently missed the significance of such a gift!

"Leah, by your rationale that would mean my name would be Angry Bear or some shit and yours would be Bottomless Trench of Nagging since we are Native American. In case you've fucking forgot, though, our names are regular, run of the mill, Christianized ones."

"Help us narrow it down then," she barked back, tired of Paul's stupidity.

"HOW?" He yelled, lurching forward once again to stare at Leah.

"Sit her down and read one name starting with every letter. You're a wolf, use your senses. Even if the name isn't the right one, her hearing the letter her real name begins with should alter her emotionally somehow."

"Yes, they would, Paul agreed sarcastically. "Just like when I call you a tramp do-gooder, your heart beat picks up in anger. This is pointless."

"It's only pointless because you won't even try. Why are you such an ass? I swear to god, it's like you don't even care! 'Urchin' seems to fit your fucked up ideas of what a relationship should be like. If you'd just take a few damn minutes-"

Paul stopped listening to Leah's lunatic ramblings when he heard his girl start to move about in the other room. Damn it! She had only been sleeping for less than an hour and these bozos were pissing all over Urchin's sleep parade. If he moved quickly enough, he might be able to distract Urchin either into falling back asleep or until the rest of the pack Muppets left unnoticed.

Collin, who had been trying to comfort Denise, stopped whispering as he, too, picked up on the sound of the urchin waking. His priority shifted back into protection as he caught Paul's tensing form. That wolf was close to exploding and too close to innocent imprints to do it safely.

When the audible sound of feet touching the floor reached the wolves, Paul snapped at Leah. "Now you've done it, Nancy Drew, she's awake. Are you happy?"

"Deliriously so," Leah gloated, standing up to walk quickly towards Arial's bedroom and leaving Collin to deal with the irritated moron whining about his urchin being woken up.

"Go with her," Collin urged Denise as he watched Paul's wolf ripple beneath his skin. His girl didn't need a second reminder. Without a backward glance at Lahote, she took off after Leah. Assuming Paul's imprint was like him, Denise would be okay having Leah on her side.

"What the fuck has gotten into you, Littlesea?" Paul spat, standing up to approach the other man. "You come barging in here with two imprints trailing after you like a safety net and think I'm just gonna let it slide?"

"Ease back, Paul," Collin instructed, trying to sound more intimidating than his backwards moving feet made him out to be. "We had no idea your girl would be napping and when Leah said she was heading over to your place, I figured you'd appreciate the company as well."

"Do I look like I'm in need of your company? Or anyone else's? I'm trying to get to know my girl, here, and having the pack over to sing Elmo's ABC's to guess at her name isn't fucking helping!"

"Agreed," Collin placated, trying to keep Paul from taking a swing at him. "But we're all excited to meet her and welcome her to the pack. Leah talks nonstop about Arial-" at Paul's deepening scowl, Collin decided he probably shouldn't assume it was okay to call her that. "Well, umm, Leah talks about your girl all the time and it's really exciting. Don't get mad because we all want to see you happy."

If Collin thought he made any headway towards finding Paul Lahote's heart, he was greatly mistaken. It wasn't his boyish smile that caused Lahote to veer away suddenly and head to the bedroom, it was the panicky rasping Arial was making.

In the less than three seconds it took for both wolves to enter the room, a million thoughts flashed through Collin's mind: Was the girl okay? Could he possibly save both Denise and Leah before Paul's temper went furry? Sam was probably going to kill both him and Paul once this was over, assuming anyone was left alive to talk.

He tried to shield the girls once he passed through the door, taking stock of the 'threat' currently huddled over the small female on the bed, talking in a soothing voice Collin would've have sworn he had never heard come from Lahote's mouth before!

"Urchin? Come on, you're okay. It was just a dream," Paul tried to explain to his terrified imprint. Goddamn, but he was fucking angry at the dimwits hovering around the room and their misguided attempts to help her causing the exact opposite.

He didn't know precisely what had occurred. Back in the living room, he had heard Leah greet Urchin and ask her something about playing a game at which point Urchin's heart rate had taken off. Paul knew he was a short fused bitch, but he also knew neither of the other two imprints had touched his girl.

He kept Urchin pressed against his chest, trying to nuzzle against her and keep her shielded from the others. It was her that pulled away first, blinking up at him in total confusion.

"You okay?" Paul asked, moving away to sit next to her as Urchin looked around his frame. She froze at the sight of Collin, time ticking by noticeably before she registered the two girls behind him.

Leah took a step towards 'Arial', but Denise took one closer to Collin. She had never seen a person look so mentally broken and she was confused; the wolf-imprint bond they all thought they knew, rocked off kilter by this huddled mass on the bed.

"Sorry about that, Arial," Leah said once she was close enough to touch Bella's shoulder. "We didn't mean to scare you. Are you okay?"

Four sets of eyes bored into Bella and for reasons she couldn't understand. When Leah had walked in and spoke, she had heard the monster's voice asking about playing a game. Looking at the walls behind the faces currently staring at her, Bella knew she wasn't in the Underground. This room was bright with daylight; not damp and mildewed where the screaming could bounce back at you.

Bella didn't know Collin and Denise, therefore she wasn't as concerned about them as she was Leah, the lady who had shown her kindness. She wanted to stand up and hug the Leah lady, but the words from earlier still echoed in her mind and she couldn't do it.

Leah really wanted to spend some time with Arial to help her tell them her real name. It wasn't an absolute necessity that they do it right then and there and after several more tension filled minutes of no one moving or speaking, she made the next move.

"Again, Arial, I'm sorry we startled you so much," Leah explained before pointing out the other couple. "That's Collin and Denise. All of us are friends and hang out a lot and I thought you might like to meet some more people." Pausing, Leah wondered what else she could say to make the awkwardness go away.

Apparently, Paul had decided it was enough. "Alright, you guys figured out how to get in here, I'm sure you'll have no trouble leaving." Pointing to the door, he didn't have to wait long as Collin ushered Denise out and Leah trailed behind them, looking anything but happy.

He could give two shits about Leah's happiness; that was all Sam's problem. The sound of the front door closely was all the incentive Paul needed to turn his full attention back to his urchin. Thank fuck she seemed calmer now.

"That was weird, huh, Urchin?" Paul joked when his girl turned to stare at him impassively. "Don't worry. I'll have a talk with the rest of my friends and make sure they don't come over like that again without calling first."

He didn't want to give his girl a chance to rethink the events of the day and in one move, both were standing, Paul gently pulling his confused urchin behind him as he walked back out past the living room and to the hall closet.

"It's not the best of weather," he explained, flinging open the closet and reaching in to grab her shoes, "but there aren't many good weather days here to begin with. I've found you outside a few times and figure by now you're cabin-fucking-fevered-crazy. We're gonna go for a walk."

Neither expecting nor receiving a fight, Paul kneeled down to put her shoes on, tugging at the laces to make sure they were secure but not death tight. With her coat on the tip of his finger, he walked back to where his own boots lay and passed the coat to its owner while he laced his own shoes.

Once they were in the backyard, Urchin's demeanor relaxed when the couple headed away from the area she had previously visited. Paul knew she'd be a wreck if he took her to the spot his girl had claimed as her own, outside solitude. He also knew that side of the house held thicker plant life and would make strolling difficult.

"Do you like it out here, Urchin?" Paul asked, trying to contain his inner giddiness from holding her hand. The bitch of a wolf he had within wasn't helping matters either, constantly replaying the kiss and projecting ludicrous thoughts that he could lift her hand, kiss the palm and work his way back to her lips.

_The fucking pansy! _

Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Urchin nod once, just barely and then glanced up at him as if it was the wrong answer. Still smiling with the idea of getting to kiss her again, Paul nodded also.

"Yeah, I like it out here, too. I'm sorry I didn't think of it sooner or I would've suggested this from the beginning," he commented, leaning over to grab Urchin's waist when she stumbled on an exposed root.

Dropping both hands from her waist once the danger passed, he went back to holding her hand. They walked for nearly a mile, the distance meaning nothing to Paul and the fact that it might be tiring his urchin only a minor bother. If need be, he'd just carry her back home. However, with the distance the silence also grew around them and became uncomfortable to Paul, Leah's shitty proposal still pinging around in his head. When the trees thinned considerably and mossy ground turned to grass, Paul stopped, halting Urchin as well.

"Let's sit here for a minute so we can talk, okay?" he...well he sort of fucking asked but by dropping to the ground and crossing his legs, he really wasn't asking. Plucking at a few blades of grass, Paul waited until his girl settled down beside him, not looking at him but taking in their surroundings.

Eventually she relaxed enough to slouch, her hands methodically brushing against the ground as if petting it.

"Do you know your real name, Urchin?" The Paul man asked Bella, causing her to freeze. She hadn't understood his sudden desire to go for a walk, but had allowed herself to hope that he was being nice. His unexpected question raised her worry.

"Hey," he cooed softly, using his hand to grab her lowered chin and raise it. "It's just a question. I won't be mad if you don't know."

Bella really doubted that. True, he probably didn't care what her real name was, just that she told him. Her mouth became dry and she wondered what her chances were of escaping. Probably nt very good considering there were few hiding places nearby.

"If I guess it, will you tell me?" He asked, his thumb rubbing softly against her jaw. Previous experiences flooded her mind and Bella prayed that he wouldn't drop his hand to her throat.

"You'll always be my urchin. I just want you to have a real name. I know we kinda talked about it earlier, but it's important," the Paul man pleaded, his thumb still stroking her skin enticingly.

Staring into his eyes, Bella felt hypnotized as he carrassed her, never faltering or increasing pressure as he continued to talk to her. "I know you don't like to talk and that's not necessary, okay? We may not even reach the point of me guessing your name but I'd at least like to know the first initial. Will you let me try to guess?" he asked.

Hesitation, fear, worry and concern all seemed to disappear when Bella looked at into his eyes. It wasn't exactly trust that had Bella agreeing, but some inner instinct telling her that he wanted to know for personal satisfaction and not as a means to hurt her.

"They say that most names begin with either the letter 'M'," he whispered, pausing before speaking again, "or 'J'".

Still studying his features, Bella didn't move, almost unaware of the words he was speaking, but cognizant that those letters weren't connected to her.

"Neither of those, huh?" The Paul man questioned, leaning closer to her face. "Do you know the alphabet, Urchin?"

Yes, Bella knew the alphabet, however, she felt lost in the weird feelings her body was projecting. Despite the confusion, she nodded, the Paul man smiling as he continued to speak.

"I'm going to say letters and when you hear the one that your name starts with, just nod, okay?" The Paul man spoke softly, his hand reaching for her cheek.

The request seemed silly, Bella's head already agreeing to whatever he was saying, as the Paul man started to say letters in slow and enticingly. She tried to answer him truthfully, this man who had been around her for longer than a day and had yet to touch her; the first man who had bothered to look at her like an equal and not as an expendable toy to be used and thrown aside.

She willed her mind and body to comply, instructing her head to answer the Paul man truthfully when he said the initial that her name began with and when he did, when that simple 'bhh' sound left his lips, she froze.

Her body tensed, her head refused to nod and had she been able to remember, Bella would've agreed that her heartbeat skipped a few beats, the initiation of her name falling from the Paul man's lips sounding loving and not hateful or the promise of the pain to come.

The Paul man apparently didn't need for her to agree, his stroking thumb on her cheek freezing as well while he stared directly into her eyes.

"B? Your name starts with the letter B?" he asked after a minute, his thumb resuming its motion.

Bella wanted to nod. She wanted the Paul man's approval for giving in to the simple request he had made. Instead, her instincts overrode her desire and she remained still and silent, hoping he wouldn't be mad or disappointed in her lack of response.

Her eyes closed on their own, her body slumping in defeat as she read the realization in the Paul man's face. He now knew part of her name, the concept that there will still a million possibilities to be had escaping Bella's thoughts.

"Urchin?" The Paul man asked her, his breath dangerously close to her face. "I don't want you to be upset by this. I would never do anything to hurt you, okay?"

Bella didn't think she could look at him now. He was happy and wasn't mad at her, but she had failed. The monsters had told her never to give up her name and while she hadn't. she had managed to give this man a way to figure it out. The demons would find her and know within minutes that she had broken her promise and then the pain would start all over again. They would hurt this nice man, kill him and then she would be hurt as well. Stripped, tortured, humiliated, used and starved.

Before full panic could set in, she felt the touch. The soft yielding and demanding pressure of lips against hers. This time, though, they weren't cruel. Like before, the kiss was hesitant and shy. Bella's mind tried to tell her it was like before and that he was just using her, but her heart said differently.

In a move neither Paul nor Bella could have predicted, her arms wrapped around his neck to enjoy the happiness. Hesitant, unsure and completely pure, Bella and Paul began to form a bond that would unite them fully.


	18. Chapter 17

A/N: Kudos to my beta, ShadowPast620. Wolfy hugs and kisses to my reviewers. :)

The next couple of chapters will be cut off at awkward places. Sorry. It's either that or you wait a month for a huge update and I figured some, sooner, was better than lots, later. :D

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><p>The rest of the day seemed exceptionally quiet to Paul. Not ass awkward quiet, like he and his girl were avoiding each other, but a shy quiet. Urchin had accepted his forest kiss even better than the dining room one, a full five minutes of lip groping taking place before her fear returned. He had already started to pull away when the first sour taste formed and he held her hands while the moment passed.<p>

After the initial revelation of her name beginning with a 'B', Paul had stopped questioning his girl. He'd sit on the information for awhile before he tried to question her again. It'd do neither one of them any fucking good if he tried to push the issue and he was really starting to like calling her 'Urchin' especially when she clung to him. As it stood, even if he finally guessed her real name, he wouldn't stop calling her by the nickname.

He hadn't realized how far they had walked or that she'd tire so quickly. Several times he had thought about just slinging his girl over his shoulder and jogging back home and each time, he stopped, knowing that if he acted out like that now, he'd lose whatever progress they had made.

"Okay, Urchin, dinner's done!" Paul called out, grabbing a skillet of simmering meat and heading to the dining room. The slices of beef smelled like a fucking cloud of heaven as he sat at the table and started to assemble burritos. Aside from a quick smile, Paul tried to stare at his girl as she cautiously shuffled her way to the table, sitting down and waiting.

"Have you ever eaten these?" he asked, filling the tortilla shell beyond bulging before attempting to wrap it. He scowled when the shell refused to stay fucking closed and unwrapped itself before he could slide urchin her plate.

"You might have to grip the damn sides to keep it closed but otherwise it should be good to eat hands on." Paul wasn't able to make all of their meals hands on. He wanted Urchin to feel comfortable using silverware, however, it wasn't a need-to-fucking-do-now project and besides, they had used spoons for the cereal.

His girl waited until Paul had shoved his mouth full of a dripping burrito before bending over her own plate to eat. He internally wilted when he realized that she wasn't taking normal bites. With the wrapping open, his girl was more or less sucking out the insides of her meal; small nibbles that looked like anything but progress.

Whatever she was doing, Urchin stopped eating long before Paul did. By the time he was close to feeling full, most of the food had disappeared.

"Why don't you help me bring some of these dishes into the kitchen? You can put away the leftover cheese and crap while I load the dishwasher, okay?" Paul asked, nodding his head to the plastic containers and bags of condiments.

At her small nod, Paul smiled even more. "Great. Just bring the stuff in and I'll help you if need be, okay?" Not waiting for a reply, Paul took most of the dishes with him. Urchin tensed immediately when he reached for her plate and rather than make her squirm, he detoured to grab a rice bowl and salsa container.

It wasn't until the table had been cleared and Paul was loading the last of the dishes that he became aware of whose plate he was rinsing. Urchin, who hadn't eaten any of the tortilla at dinner, held no trace of it on her plate now. He fucking knew she had saved it to wrap the rest of her meal up and stow it away. If he didn't keep better track of this shit –hidden food- his Urchin would probably end up with food poisoning. Even with the semi-backward assed progress, his new favorite time of the day came quickly.

Paul loved sleeping next to his urchin. Not necessarily on the couch, but the fact that the couch provided such little room made it easy for him to curl around her, hold on tightly and soothe the wolf. It went deeper than that, he knew that and yet he was loathe to admit the strong—very fucking strong- emotions he felt for the wisp of a girl he had been fated to have.

Paul wanted to try that shit out somewhere more expandable for his frame!

That evening, on the couch, he counted to himself as her breaths slowed and deepened, indicating a true slumber of peace and contentment. After a full fifteen minutes he made his move, cradling the figure gently and walking to his room.

Placing her under the thin sheet, he went to join her when she unexpectedly shifted, a small frown blotching her features. She had left her deep sleep and was beginning to awaken at a fast pace. Panicking like a sissy ass bitch, Paul picked her back up, leaving his room to return her to the couch and slide in behind her.

Paul's luck had finally run out for the night. He tried to huddle close in hopes of his girl falling back asleep, but she didn't. She tossed, stretched and curled, her body finally waking completely and barely giving Paul enough time to roll off the furniture, cuss like an ass when he hit the coffee table and then crab limp away down the hall so Urchin wouldn't see him.

After fifteen minutes of his girl sitting up and not falling asleep, he made his way back to his room. Fucking alone. His wolf was acting like a disappointed douche also, trying to convince Paul he should go back out to the living and just check to make sure she wasn't lonely.

_Fucking wolf genes and the desire to sleep in a pile with its mate!_

Paul started at the ceiling of his bedroom, listening as she finally dropped back off to sleep an hour later leaving him more time to think about shit that needed thinking but drove him insane. The pack thought he was an ass for calling his imprint Urchin and most people might think it was derogatory but to Paul it held a fondness he couldn't describe. It wasn't like the others didn't have pet names for their girls, or that the girls didn't have them for the wolves. Paul could almost taste the vomit every time he heard Claire whispering to Quil about wanting a taste of her 'Chocolate'; a direct reference to the color of Quil's wolf.

Paul didn't want to think that he might owe Leah yet another shitty apology for her name idea slightly panning out. He now knew that Urchin's real name began with the letter 'B' and while there was still a shitload of possibilities, there were even more name possibilities that they could bypass altogether.

He also didn't want to think of himself as a selfish bastard, but a part of Paul knew his feelings would get hurt if Urchin decided she wanted to be addressed by her given name when he spoke to and of her. Frustrated beyond fuck, Paul huffed and rolled over onto his stomach, wondering if he should just get up and go run off some of his pissy-ness. He had patrol tomorrow night for sure, not that there was any point to it. It had been months since a leech had carelessly strolled into this neck of the woods. Most patrols were spent to stretch and flex the wolves, Sam calling a once monthly meeting for everyone to train as a pack, devise and play out possibly scenarios in the event of a vampire apocalypse.

_Fuck it! A few unnecessary laps might tire his ass out,_ Paul thought, rolling off the bed to go outside. The sound of Urchin moving as well caused him to halt and then sit back down. She was waking up fast, her heart beat increasing followed by the sounds of a shifting blanket.

Paul's curiosity doubled when she physically got up off the couch, shuffling about the house in a weird pattern. He almost got up to check on her and make sure she didn't need anything. Instead he waited and counted the seconds, nearly sitting straight up himself when her footfall became more pronounced and louder, indicating she was headed towards him.

With the wolf trying to ooze right the fuck out of him in happiness, Paul struggled to act like he was really asleep. He flopped back into the bed, tossing from one side to the other, and finally deciding on a position when she was suddenly there.

She stopped at the doorway, probably to make sure he was really asleep before making her move, whatever it was going to be. She seemed to stop fidgeting, only her soft exhalations and beating heart telling Paul she was there and he couldn't help himself. One millimeter at a time, he cracked his eyes, zeroing in on his girl and almost making an amateur slip when his wolf started to pant.

Paul forced himself into motherfucking muscle lockdown when the wolf tried to roll his body like a needy puppy seeking the attention of its owner. Damned if his butt didn't flex a few times as his currently nonexistent tail made imaginary wagging motions when Urchin crossed through the door frame and walked to the bed.

When he felt the small indention of the mattress behind him, Paul cursed for having turned to face the doorway before she entered. Now he couldn't face her lest he alert her to the fact that he was awake. His folly was pain in full when the small female figure inched closer to his back, small steps that after fifteen minutes had her pressed firmly against his backside.

His emotional rollercoaster continued to spiral out of control as Paul debated this latest development. This shit couldn't have been easy for Urchin, coming to his room and crawling in bed. It should've been easy. Lots of fucking couples shared sleeping places quickly, although, usually to do anything but sleep.

Urchin still flinched around unexpected noises and movements, hell she wouldn't make a damn decision without watching Paul first and then checking two or three more times to make sure it was okay! Yet, she had made this decision by herself and while the wolf was giddy, the man was contemplating.

_Just shut the fuck up and enjoy it, you ball-less bastard_, his inner annoying fuck-wit conscious urged.

Paul fucking wished he could. That the old, slutty Lahote could just fake rearrange his body, flip over, pull the female into him and let his hands wander…

… Followed quickly by his tongue and even quicker by his dick, with clothes disappearing and sexy whimpers of encouragement to…

…But no. While his wolf was practically thrumming against the skin on his back to get closer to Urchin, Pansy Paul had apparently set up shop in his mind, searching for an explanation as to why his girl was here in his bed. Eventually, though, the troubling thoughts were ignored as Urchin's presence eased him into a joining sleep; one filled with dreams and expectations of everything working out.

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><p>People woke up differently. Some had their eyes open before being aware of what surrounded them, slowly focusing on the sense of sight before the brain registered what was happening. Others, like Paul at times, were fully alert while their eyes remained firmly shut to avoid giving away that they were awake. If what he could make out was real, Paul didn't need to open his damn eyes 'cause he was already in heaven.<p>

He was on his back, his left arm under the pillow Urchin was currently using. His girl, however, was stuck to his side like a barnacle: an enticing, sexy, slightly needy barnacle. Judging from the pressure to his left, she was lying partially on her side, her stomach firmly pressed against his hip with her right arm thrown haphazardly across his chest along with her knee resting over his mid thigh.

Despite having assessed the situation, it still took Paul a few minutes to realize his dick was at full mast and begging for attention from the girl situated so closely at hand. Any and all of his previous concerns were gone as horny morning Paul woke up with his imprint at hand.

He tilted his head in her direction, hoping to get in some kisses and then cussed when he noticed that she was positioned lower than he was. Not to be cock blocked on this glorious morning, he let his left arm slide from under the pillow to brace against her back and his hand to cup her ass.

His intention was to lift her up onto his lap, start kissing her lips and use his hands to guide her hips over his crotch. Nothing but a promising warm up of things to come…and he'd make damn sure they both came multiple times.

Horny Paul motherfucking either forgot or ignored the fact that his girl was asleep and that waking up to something –his leg—flexing against her crotch would not be the same pleasurable experience for her as it was for him.

Every pliant muscle in her body tensed to steel, Urchin's breathing halting entirely as her eyes popped open in fear. He knew she was awake and that in a matter of seconds, his girl would probably realize he was, too, and then she'd fucking freak! Paul slammed his own eyes back shut, hoping she'd just pass this off as comfort- God damn it! This was fucking cuddling! Slightly erotic, pre-sex cuddling and Paul would be damned if he was going to try to name anything else from now on.

_I'm a fucking cuddler, get used to it, Lahote!_ He berated himself.

Now wasn't the best fucking time for a vocabulary lesson and Paul tried to keep his breathing even to let Urchin make the next move.

Slowly, always so fucking slowly, her own hand reached behind to remove his ass cupping one while her leg slid off his frame and helped to push her away from him. It was more difficult than Paul thought it would be, trying to keep his arm relaxed and bendable so that she could move it while still presuming he was asleep.

Urchin kept her movements slow but she sure as hell moved a lot faster when trying to get away as opposed to trying to get closer to Paul. In less than three minutes, she had slid across the bed, off of it, to the floor and had crawled away back to the living room.

Biting his pillow in angry annoyance, Paul mother fucking knew that this shit just wasn't going to work! He'd have to think of a better way to convince Urchin she needed to sleep with him. By the time he was done internally cussing and screaming, he was moving back into the living room to join his once again dozing girl on the couch.

* * *

><p>"Well, I think it's weird!" Claudia exclaimed as she busied herself inside of the closet. Her two closest friends, Regina and Denise had come over to visit before the girls had to take off for school.<p>

"Why does it strike you as weird?" Regina asked, as she flipped through a magazine, Denise pointing out the ad for a new type of nail polish and halting the movement.

"Come on, Gina. It doesn't strike you at all as unordinary that Lahote's imprint happens to be the exact opposite of the rest of us?" Claudia questioned, leaving the closet and walking over to lean across the bed to look at the ad her friends were studying.

"I have no idea, seeing as I haven't met her yet." Regina's eyes shot a glance over her shoulder to Claudia's in a casual manner.

"I met her," Denise piped up, earning disbelieving looks from her two friends. "What? It wasn't really planned. Leah was going over to his house and Collin felt like he needed to chaperone. I was kinda excited to get the chance to see her."

"And? Is she really that much different than Lahote?" Claudia asked snidely. "I bet she's just acting, trying to lure everyone into believing she's all nice and innocent when she's really just a bitch."

Regina gave a humorless laugh. "That's harsh, Dia. What do you care who Paul's eternal pussy supplier is? His imprint, his problem. I don't understand why you think it's such a big deal."

"He beat the crap out of Seth for no reason, whatsoever, Gina, and Seth shrugged it off, saying it was because of the new imprint. I think I have a reason to be somewhat hostile towards the imprint that causes my own wolf to be hurt."

"The guys fight all the time, rough housing and crap. It doesn't mean anything," Regina half heartedly argued, turning a few pages of the magazine. When she first met Brady, he had been quick to explain the 'Lahote Lament'. Paul was just Paul and if you valued your sanity, you steered clear of the man at all costs.

"This wasn't an incident where a wolf accidently thought of a snide comment or from a gathering where the games turned to rough. Lahote hunted down Seth, in wolf form! If I hadn't come home, who knows what would've happened."

"Nothing would've happened, Dia, you know that. Eventually one of the others would've heard the fight and jumped in to help or called Sam to rein it in."

"Look, I'm not trying to take sides here," Denise said hesitantly, "but she's really different. Not only from Lahote, but us as well."

"So you spoke to her?" Claudia asked, walking over to her bureau to tie her back.

"No. I mean…didn't Seth tell you? The girl doesn't talk." Denise stared at Claudia's reflection in the mirror, meeting the angry girl's eyes with sympathy for Arial. She had thought the same thing Claudia had about Lahote's imprint, but after spending a few brief minutes in the girl's bedroom, she now had doubts.

"Exactly!" Claudia demanded, twirling around to face her friends. "She doesn't talk? Tell me that doesn't sound weird to you. Who doesn't talk?"

Denise was a lot more passive than her friends when it came to arguments and she dropped her gaze, unknowing of how to answer Claudia.

Regina wasn't as lenient. "I don't know," she answered head on. "I've never tried to talk to a homeless person before. Maybe they just don't talk?"

"She couldn't have always been homeless; she had to have had a home at some point in her life. Maybe she's just a normal runaway," Claudia said, making her back over to the bed to sit down and put her shoes on.

"If she was that bad, though, don't you think Leah would've been all over that crap?" Regina asked, leaning up from her sprawled position. "Clearwater doesn't praise anyone and yet she keeps talking about Arial and the things she wants to do to help the girl."

Both shoes on, Claudia gave her full attention back to the discussion. "I think Leah only wants to help her because she's tired of Paul bringing trash to the Rez. Just because she's excited doesn't mean I'm going to welcome Arial with open arms."

"I don't get you," Regina commented offhandedly, throwing the magazine down. "Does it even matter? No one is asking you to be Arial's new BFF."

"Not yet, but if she's keeps up this poverty/abused act, everyone is going to let their guard down. Then when her true colors come to light, we're all going to be in trouble."

Unexpectedly, Denise giggled. "Claudia, the girl is tiny. She almost looks like she's barely legal. I'm pretty sure that out of all the wolves, Paul will be able to handle an imprint that probably literally doesn't weigh more than his right arm."

"Uggh! You guys are impossible!" Jumping up from the bed, Claudia grabbed her books to arrange in a messy pile. "What happens when she goes back to wherever she came from and tells them about the wolves, huh? She'll bring trouble right to our front doors!"

"Maybe," Regina agreed, still not caring. "But first she'd have to talk."

"And what are you going to do when she does and it blows up in our faces?" Claudia whined, clutching her books to her chest. She couldn't understand why her friends were being so cavalier about the problem.

"You think being a bitch to her is going to keep her silent?" Regina questioned seriously.

"No." Nervously, Claudia licked her lips, wondering how to make them understand her point of view. "But if she learns quickly that we aren't a bunch of pushovers, she'll be less inclined to make fools of us."

"Look," Regina said slowly, an idea beginning to form. Standing up, she gathered her things to leave, knowing Claudia had to get to school. "I'm not going to go out of my way or anything, but I'll play it by ear and see what happens if and when I get the opportunity."

"Fine. If you need any help or backup, you know where to find me," Claudia agreed, following her friends out of the room so she could get to class.

* * *

><p>"Do you hear water dripping, Urchin?" Paul asked the shadowed figure in his bedroom. It was a quiet pattern, but consistent and distracting Paul from eye fucking his imprint. Urchin was such a small creature, sprawled out on his bed and waiting for him to join her. Her smallness accented the fact that he had more room to play with her.<p>

As soon as the obnoxious dripping stopped, Paul glided to the end of the bed, preparing to make his approach on top of the waiting female; a move he had perfected years ago. His fingers flexed and grasped the sheets as he placed first one knee then the other on the mattress to claim his prize.

He could see her eyes fucking clearly, a becoming smile on her lips as she whispered words he couldn't make out but knew were erotic pleas to have him inside of her. Urchin, whose body temperature usually felt cool or cold, seemed to be heating up by the time Paul was positioned completely over her.

The incessant dripping started again, halting Paul's game and his head whipped to the side, growling in anger at the elusive source. The noise couldn't be very close, definitely not in the bedroom and he felt the presence of Urchin's hand ghost the side of his face, he gave up on figuring out what it was.

Neither he nor his girl were wearing any type of clothes to obstruct the fuck awesome view of two bodies meant to get down and dirty with each other. Paul roved his eyes downward from her head, to the delicate and beckoning neck and fastened to the bared breast.

"I'm going to make you feel real good, urchin," he promised, lowering his head to taste her flesh. Mere inches from his gal and the dripping started again; louder this time, and insistent.

"Motherfuck—" Paul's loud curse was cut short when his eyes suddenly popped open and he found himself still clinging to the couch next to his girl.

The light tapping was fucking annoying and real. Paul was going to rip the inconsiderate asshole's arms right the fuck off once he got up off the couch and answered the door. Pressing forward into Urchin's sleeping back, Paul took a deep breath before pulling back to get up.

If he wasn't hell bent on getting rid of the interfering tapper, Paul might have slowed down to readjust himself. Priorities were fucking priorities, though, and killing the cocksucker, who had just interrupted the best dream ever, was more important than moving his junk. Besides, if he killed the bastard in less than thirty seconds, he had a good chance of being able to rejoin Urchin and continue with his dream.

"You best be motherfucking dyi-Fuller!" Paul's whispered threat turned into surprise as he flung open the front door. Peering outside, he looked to see if anyone else was here as well before turning back to the lone man and resuming his ire. "Why the fuck are you here?"

Stepping into the house, Brady Fuller tried not to look as sheepish as he felt and missed Paul's hostility. "Oh, you know, I was just stopping by to make sure everything was okay with you and your imprint," he offered by way as explanation.

"Busy!" Paul barked out as a statement, demand and threat all rolled into one word. He couldn't fucking believe the audacity of the stupid wolf that strolled inside as if this were a common occurrence.

"I won't be long, Paul, promise," Brady explained, slowly realizing that he must have interrupted something more than Paul's sleep. True, he didn't want to know anymore than he had to about Paul's bedroom conquests, but if he was getting somewhere with his imprint, it had to be a good sign, right?

"Sam sent you, didn't he?" Paul asked, closing the door and not waiting for confirmation. "As you can sense, no one has died. Feel free to see yourself out." Walking past a surprised Brady, Paul went into the kitchen to start some coffee. Leave it to a pack mate to ruin an otherwise decent late morning.

"I see imprinting hasn't changed your hospitality," Brady joked, following Paul into his kitchen. "Where's the gentle, caring wolf Leah talks about?"

"His ass is still asleep. Are you going to be here long?" Paul demanded. Eyeing the canister of ground beans, he was tempted to just throw the shit directly into a glass of water and drink it straight.

"For a bit," Brady answered nonchalantly, deciding to see what else he could learn during this visit. As Paul seemed to pour a deadly amount of coffee into the filter, Brady changed his mind about waiting for it to brew. "Can I get a glass of water?"

Paul waved his hand in a flagging acceptance towards the cabinets before rubbing tiredly at his face. He wasn't sleepy just not fucking awake yet. "Sit. Drink. Be merry and don't wake my girl. I'll be right back; I need to wake up before we have this retarded heart-to-heart."

Laughing, Brady went to the cupboard to pull out a glass, filling it with ice before adding water and letting it sit to cool further. He could hear Paul mutter an endearing 'I'm right here, Urchin' before he moved deeper into the house and turned a sink on.

When Brady felt like the water had cooled sufficiently, he took a deep drink, smacking his lips before venturing out of the kitchen and into the living room. He hadn't realized the girl would be out here, assuming she had been sleeping in one of the bedrooms.

She certainly was a tiny creature, her thin frame sunk between the back and bottom cushions of the couch and partially wrapped in a fleece blanket. He had seen the mental images of her scars and wounds through the other wolves and Brady wondered when she would explain her reason for being homeless and give them all a name to call her. Arial was better than Urchin, but neither name seemed to bother her.

The couch she was sleeping on was free standing in the room, allowing one to walk around it. Brady did so, standing behind it to stare at the new pack family member in curiosity. Arial looked like she had seen better days.

"Why is she sleeping on the couch?" Brady asked softly, leaning over the figure to gaze at her neck and partially exposed face turned into the cushions. Paul always had lucked out in enjoying the company of beautiful women and his imprint was no exception, aside from being daintier than he usually associated with.

"What the fuck do you care? Paul called back. "I don't know why you guys insist on treating us like a freak show. You've seen her; she's fine. Go back and tell Sam I haven't broken her yet. Although, why he sent you here is beyond me. I'm sure Leah will come banging in here later today to make sure."

Brady only smirked in light of Paul's usual hostile cadence. "Actually I'm here because Regina wanted to know if you guys wanted to go out to the movies tonight. A late show and then maybe some ice cream."

Paul's answering snort of disbelief said more than his next sentence. "You know, most normal fucking people just call their friends with plans rather than showing up so goddamn early in the morning."

"Good thing we aren't normal then. Besides it's almost nine. Do you guys always sleep this late?" Brady asked before rattling the glass of ice water and taking another drink, draining the contents quickly.

It was on the tip of Paul's tongue to tell Brady it was none of his goddamn business how late they slept. Urchin didn't sleep well at night and when she slept soundly in several hour increments, Paul would be damned if he was going to make her get up. Especially since there wasn't any where they needed to be or go.

"AHHHHHHHH!" Bella screamed out in terror and projected pain.

Paul cleared the room fast enough to see Brady's look of shock and his little urchin scurrying across the room on her hands and knees. Crawling up on the mantle, her blanket was still tangled around her torso and snagged on the leg of the coffee table. Half heartedly she gave it a tug before giving up and placing her hands protectively around her head.

"What the fuck did you do to her, you piece of shit!" Paul thundered as he approached the crying girl. With one hard yank, he freed the blanket, leaning down to scoop up it and his girl to hold her tightly in a protective embrace.

Her arms wrapped around his neck fearfully, ironically distracting the wolf within from thoughts of shredding Brady. "Are you okay, Urchin? What happened?" Paul whispered lowly. He sure as fuck was awake now, plotting to sit Urchin back down and then dive across the room at the cockroach Brady who had done exactly what he was told not to!

"I didn't do anything," Brady explained, hands held up in innocence. "You and I were talking and then she flipped."

"Urchin?" Paul questioned. His girl had a lot of faults, but she hadn't ever woken up outright screaming and running. Brady had to have hurt her somehow.

Hesitantly, his girl unlatched one of her arms from his neck to rub at her own; Paul moving her hair out of the way to see if she had a bruise or cut. The only thing there was a few drops of water that his little urchin was trying to rub away. He placed his hand over the area, his warmth absorbing the cold.

"Did the water scare you?" he asked softly while shooting a death glare at Brady. "I told you to leave her alone," he spat at his friend. Paul goddamn well knew the whole pack had seen the bath incident a few days ago. If Brady had purposely flicked water at the sleeping girl, he was going to lose body parts. Most likely all of them.

"I didn't know she'd freak like that," Brady tried to plead, watching Paul offensively tense. "I didn't even do it on purpose. The condensation must have dripped off at the wrong place and time." His words were hurried and Paul doubted Urchin was even paying attention, still rubbing at her neck and looking around the room for something.

"I'm really sorry, Arial," Brady offered when her gaze finally caught his. She blinked once before slouching into Paul and becoming nervous.

"Do you want me to rip off his fingers?" Paul semi-teased in a low voice most people would assume was whispering. His girl wouldn't know that Brady could hear both the words and the underlying threat of bodily harm should she ask for it.

Paul's wolf was chomping on the inside for some form of vigilance in honor of its mate. Both man and wolf were slightly disappointed when the girl failed to answer.

"Look, Arial, I really am sorry. I came over here to ask if you and Paul wanted to go out tonight and see a movie. My girl, Regina, would like to meet you. What do you say? I'll even make it up to you and take you both for some ice cream afterwards," Brady promised, feeling guilty for scaring her. He had heard about the bath incident and just attributed her reaction to that.

Both wolves waited patiently for the girl to decide, Paul offering an encouraging smile when she pulled back to look at him, her eyes once again searching for some elusive factor. She continued to stare as she slowly nodded.

"Great!" Brady beamed, excited to have made two imprints happy with one answer and relieved to be leaving Paul's house in one piece. "Paul, do you want me to swing by and pick you guys up or do you want to meet up at the theater?"

"We aren't in high school, Brady, and this isn't a damn double date," Paul scoffed. "I'll meet you there. What time?"

"Seven?" Brady offered, entranced as he watched Lahote make very subtle and affectionate gestures towards Arial. The girl was clearly uncomfortable in general, but didn't make any moves to push Paul away, nor did she struggle to get out of his arms as he rubbed his check against hers.

The whole thing was really weird to see Paul do, and Brady almost missed the man's next comment as he wondered whether or not Paul _had_ punched him and this was just a delusional dream.

"Fine!" Paul snapped, finally realizing that Brady was in fact still here and staring like a pervert. "You know my number if something changes or whatever."

Numbly Brady nodded, still watching as Paul basically dismissed him and went back to coddling his imprint and whispering apologies for his "shitty friends" disturbing her like that. It wasn't until Arial looked back at Brady and then trembled that Paul jerked his head away and gave the onlooker another look of death. Brady didn't need to be reminded twice and left quickly, still amazed at the behavior difference in Paul.


	19. Chapter 18

A/N: Kudos to my beta, ShadowPast620. Hugs and wolfy kisses to my reviewers.

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><p><em>Well, this was one shiny ball of fuck up!<em> Paul thought irritably.

He wasn't much of a social person, one of those guys who went out to sports bars and shit to watch sports and brag/bitch about the female he was currently screwing. Brady suggesting that they all go out on a date like a group of twats was the last fucking thing he would ever agree to. The pack knew that and rarely badgered him, but Brady, the shitter, had pulled out a secret offensive move and instilled the help of Urchin to get Paul to go.

It wasn't fair to blame his urchin, though. This wasn't a matter of him being forced into some nightmarish 1950's date of movies and ice cream. The outing was what Urchin wanted; not to make Paul unhappy, but because she had been really excited to go somewhere! His wolf had been at the standby, ready to beat the Hell out of Paul had he indicated that he wasn't keen on going.

Paul was still nervous about the trip. Urchin may think she was ready for this, but Paul knew Brady and Regina. One talked shit until he was blue in the face and the other…well, she talked a lot of shit, too, and by doing so, could make the task of watching paint dry look like an intellectual marathon in comparison. He'd have to find a few minutes to give Brady a call and remind the love-bird lumps to keep the chatter to a minimum.

The thrumming of his cell interrupted Paul's internal bashing and reluctantly he dug it out of his pocket to see what new low life was calling to give him shit.

When the caller I.D. on Paul's phone flashed the word 'Clinic' he growled in annoyance. He hadn't fucked a local in a few months and wondered what slut bunny was currently calling to blame him for her –whatever her it was—recently discovered infection of bubonic crabs. Despite his wolf's immunity, he wrapped his shit tight and knew damn well he was never the cause of passing around STD's, nor was he about to be some loser bitch's baby daddy.

The phone kept ringing and Paul's eyes darted to his Urchin's form currently sitting in the dining room and staring out at the rain. He knew she hadn't heard the near silent chirping and easily he could get up, tell the caller off and then be back, with Urchin none the wiser.

His bedroom door had no sooner clicked shut when Paul answered with a "Look, Ho. I didn't give you shit and any brat you're trying to claim is mine, isn't. So do us both a favor, save the fucking minutes and hang up. If you need to piss and moan, call a damn therapist."

If Paul hadn't been a wolf, he would've missed the tentative response of "Paul? It's Sue."

Awkwardly, Paul fumbled with the phone, bringing it back to his ear before he could disconnect the call.

"Oh, fuck…Sue? Shit, sorry about that," Paul said automatically. He meant the apology, but his tone lacked the sincerity to sound convincing.

"I see," Sue answered, struggling to remember why she had called Paul after his abrupt greeting shocked her thoughtless.

…A patient had stopped by for a refill on post partum depression medication; the doctor mentioning that she also continue to take prenatal vitamins for a few more months; the three cancellations in a row due to bad weather…

"There were a few cancellations this afternoon at the clinic and I was hoping you'd bring Arial by. The doctor can give her an exam and we can do some blood tests," Sue offered, her voice returning to its normally cheery attitude.

Paul's mouth turned to dry ash. He thought he had made it perfectly clear that going to a doctor's office was a bad idea, especially a small town local office where everybody knew each other's shit. Urchin couldn't talk and they had no way of being able to provide simple information like a birthday or name. Besides, she was okay. Hell, even the knife wound was healing spectacularly due to Paul's meandering tongue.

"I...umm...Sue, that's a really bad idea," Paul said uncomfortably. "I mean, Urchin is fine. Her knife wound is practically gone and she doesn't have a fever or any of that shit." Unconsciously, Paul's ears strained to hear his girl's heartbeat and he inhaled deeply, scenting for any ripple of pheromones that might suggest he was mistaken and Urchin was sick.

"Paul, I am relieved to hear that her wound is healing nicely, but I thought I made it perfectly clear when I said she could still harbor some type of infection," Sue explained, breaking Paul's urchin observations.

"Like what?" he asked sarcastically, tired of the Doomsdays games. Jesus H. Fucking Christ, could no one be normal and happy that his girl seemed to be adjusting just fine and fucking dandy?

"Like an STD," Sue said point blank. "Paul, we don't know exactly what type of conditions she's been living in, unless she's told you something?"

_Way to fucking remind him that his girl still wasn't talking._ That aside, Paul's anger rose at Sue's insinuations that he and Urchin were having a clothesless relationship! "No she hasn't said shit, but I haven't fucked her either and even if I had, I wouldn't have given her anything, remember?"

"I'm not talking about you, Paul," Sue seethed at his obstinence. "I'm talking about Arial's health."

"I already told you, Urchin couldn't give me anything even if she did have something. Which she doesn't," Paul declared adamantly. Fuck this shit! He didn't care what Sue or anyone else _might_ think, Paul knew his girl wasn't carrying around crotch-rot of any sort!

"I'm still not talking about you!" Sue repeated shrilly, looking around the office before lowering her voice. "She could have something and while you'd be immune, she won't. Finding out before symptoms appears makes a great deal of difference for the treatability rate. Can you honestly say that's she been safe with past partners?"

"What past partners?" Paul asked blissfully dumb. Considering even dreaming Paul couldn't get laid by his girl, he sure as shit didn't want to think about someone else receiving pleasure from Urchin.

"Do you think she's a virgin, Paul?"

God damn! Sue was really trying to kill Paul. "Yes!" He answered, while his inner psychoscreamed, '_No!' _

"Paul," Sue sighed in exasperation, "Just show up here at noon. Most of the staff will be out to lunch and the doctor has agreed to see her then."

"But I don't even know-"

"Noon, Paul! Goodbye," Sue said, disconnecting the call.

"God-fucking-dammit," Paul muttered as he slipped his phone into his pocket. He didn't want to think about this shit now…or ever. But apparently, Nurse Clearwater held a different opinion and Paul knew she'd run to the Alpha Asshole and whine if he didn't comply.

Shit! Now Paul was depressed about not being able to be horny due to some imaginary fucking nonexistent condition.

* * *

><p>Bella felt like she had made a mistake.<p>

After the grocery store incident, she wasn't sure she wanted to be around any of his guy friends. When the man from earlier asked about going to the movies, her innate fear of strange men was momentarily forgotten with the promise of going to the theater. Bella didn't have any money and even though that Brady person had mentioned paying, she was worried that the Paul man would get stuck doing so and then be mad at her for agreeing. She had studied his face very carefully, looking for a sign as to what she should say as both men waited.

Something enticing had flickered in his eyes. Bella wouldn't say it was eagerness or hopefulness, but it did allow her to agree to go. Afterwards, as the Paul man kept telling her everything was okay and asking what he could do to make her more comfortable, she felt that Brady person staring at her and tried not to show how much it had bothered her.

The Paul man was quick. Whatever expression she had tried to repress, he had somehow seen it and turned abruptly on the other man. He must have looked extremely mean since the Brady guy left right away. As usual, Bella had felt a small flicker of renewed fear that the Paul man's anger would be directed at her.

Nothing could have surprised her more when they were suddenly seated on the couch and he began to ask what kind of movies she liked and if she really wanted to go or was just agreeing because she felt like there wasn't "any other fucking choice".

The answer was simply yes, and to both questions. Bella didn't have any choice, but she also really wanted to go and tried to let the Paul man know it. Cautiously she reached for one of his hands and rubbed her palm against the top in reassurance, wondering if most people had such warm hands. It was probably only true for those who had their own homes, she decided unimportantly, happy when he moved to fully clasp her own colder one.

After awhile, he had suggested she get changed. The Paul man was kind of weird like that, wanting Bella to change at least twice a day from what he called sleeping clothes to normal clothes. She knew the difference, sort of, but Undergrounders were considered lucky if they could change once a month, say nothing of twice a day!

Watching his expressions again to make sure it was really okay, Bella got up and happily took a shower. She liked the feeling of warm, clean water on her skin and the ability to wash her hair. The fact that if the Paul man were to suddenly come in when she was bathing and hurt or use her wouldn't be nice, but she could live with it.

She hoped!

Making her way back out into the living room, she halted, watching as the Paul man sat on the couch, mumbling to himself. He was a really nice looking man; well groomed with his short black hair, absent facial hair and darkly hued skin. Bella was almost certain his skin tone wasn't from a tan, whatever it was, she kinda liked it. The increasing tinkling sound of rain caught Bella's attention and she quietly left the Paul man alone, choosing to sit in the dining room and look out the window.

It rained a lot in Seattle, but it rained even more at the Paul man's house and as Bella watched the non-stopping water fall from the sky, she began to reconsider living here. If she was lucky enough to find a cave, she'd be stuck inside most days due to the cold. Summer rains could be harsh as well, but not like the Fall and Winter ones.

Hopefully she wouldn't have to worry about that for a long time, considering that the Paul man had seemed to enjoy their kissing from yesterday. Heck, he had been the one to give her the second kiss, pulling away before she could let her nerves start up. That part of the kissing did worry Bella. She'd give him whatever he wanted and despite enjoying the initial contact, she was scared that he expected her to instantly like everything.

_Oh, but she was trying to like everything!_

Bella was starting to feel an emotion of warmth from being around him, the odd feeling increasing whenever she managed to make choices he approved of. The fear of punishment still clouded her mind; an inherent terror that he'd get really mad, hurt her viciously and then throw her back to the monsters.

Trudging back out to the dining room, Paul carefully sat at the table across from Bella. She thought she had heard talking, but since it obviously wasn't meant for her to hear, Bella had shrugged it off, studying the window.

"Urchin?" The Paul man spoke to her directly, pulling her thoughts away from things that might never occur. "I just got off the phone with a friend, Sue. She's Leah's mom and a nurse that works at a nearby clinic. She asked if I'd bring you in because…"

Her eyes closed quickly and filled with tears and Bella knew she had been lying to herself all along. She wasn't hurt and knew no one would waste money for an unnecessary trip to the doctors. The Paul man was going to hurt her first and then take her to see the nurse because it was probably going to cause more damage than the band-aid box he had made could fix.

"Shit! Why are you crying?" He demanded harshly. Bella didn't hear him get up, but when his hands gripped above her shoulders, she tensed and squeaked.

The squeaking didn't make the Paul man leave, but he dropped his hands and then repositioned them to pick her up and set her in his lap.

"Look, I don't like doctors and their bullshit either, but it's just to make sure you're healthy. Sue's nice, just like Leah is, and she'll be by your side the whole time, okay?" The Paul man pleaded with her.

Bella couldn't figure out what the heck was wrong with her! He was being nice and she needed to stop crying and agree to what he was asking before he did something mean, like say no to going to the movies or worse, kicking her out of his house.

"Come on, Urchin. I swear, no one is going to fucking hurt you. Hell, I'll tell Sue that I'm going in with you so you'll know I mean every damn word. If I even think the quack doc is looking at you funny, I'll bash his head in," he told her, hugging her tightly and comfortingly.

Having lived all of her life in violent circumstances, Bella couldn't stand the thought of people being hurt. Strangely enough, the idea that the Paul man would protect her and hurt those who meant her harm, were a comfort.

She couldn't stop crying fully, managing to stifle her sobs until only a few stubborn tears continued to fall. Pulling back, she nodded to the Paul man. No, Bella didn't want to see a doctor unnecessarily, but if this was what he asked of her, she could do it.

* * *

><p>It never fucking failed. Ask the Spirits if the day could get any more fucked up and they beamed brightly as they shoveled more shit than Paul thought any person should experience.<p>

That and many more asinine –heavy emphasis on ass—thoughts occupied Paul as he drove his girl to the clinic. He had meant every damn word he'd promised; that he would sit with her while the doc did his shit and make damn fucking sure there weren't any squirrelly procedures planned.

Apparently the only nuts were in Paul's plan. As soon as he and Urchin walked through the door, Sue had appeared, told Paul to have a seat and then whisked his girl away into a back room. Paul had been six years old the last time he had ever visited a clinic and as far as he knew, Sue would quickly come back out and let Paul sit with Urchin.

"Paul!" Sue hissed, coming out of the exam room Urchin was waiting in. Quickly she walked to where he was sitting, so she could glare at him appropriately. "I told you not to use your inner talents to take care of Arial. Why is her gash almost healed?"

"She doesn't know it was me. I waited until she was asleep before I did anything and it was never in my _inner_ form," Paul answered directly and indirectly, letting Sue knew he hadn't phased in front of his girl. "Can I go be with her now?" He asked, standing up to do just that.

No! Sit down, Paul," Sue commanded, not caring what he thought he may or may not be entitled to do. "What about the antibiotics I gave her? Has she been taking them as well?"

For once, Paul couldn't hide his mistake and whispered quietly as he sank back into the chair, "She took them for a couple of days, but with everything else going and the pa-_boys_," he quickly amended, "constantly barging in, it slipped my mind."

Sue's anger grew and despite knowing she shouldn't aggravate him, she couldn't help herself. "Paul Lahote! Are you seriously telling me you just quit giving her the medication?"

"Yesss," Paul hissed back. "I didn't do it on purpose, but I did still take care of her and the wounds. The ones on her hands, too! She's doing fine. No fever, no sickness and definitely no funny smelling infection coming from her. If the only reason you brought me here was to nag, I'm grabbing Urchin and we're outta here!" Standing back up, Paul took one step forward before he felt Sue's hand grab at the back of his shirt.

"Sit down, Paul, before you make a scene," she demanded. Nurse Clearwater definitely wasn't a match for a wolf, but she was using one hell of demanding tone. Once he had done just that, Sue tried to clear her mind of the anger she was feeling and think of a way to address this particularly moody wolf.

"I understand that you might have become distracted and that using your _natural_ talent seemed like the best option," Sue began slowly, waiting until he nodded before continuing. "However, I must ask that you resume the antibiotics. Probably not the ones I gave you, though. I'll mention to the doctor about prescribing something more effective for infections."

"What did you tell the doctor about Urchin? He's gonna wanna know why she needs that shit, won't he?"

"Well, yes," Sue hedged, feeling slightly uncomfortable. It wasn't in her nature to lie, but she had done just that to Dr. Hamlin. "I told him that she was a close friend of Leah's, visiting family from Port Angeles. She's been staying here at the Rez, went camping with a group and some things happened."

"Things?" Paul asked, not liking the sound of that.

"Yes, _things_, Paul," Sue exclaimed. "I had to come up with a rational explanation as to why a girl appears out of nowhere, wanting a pelvic exam and accommodating blood work."

_Lalalalalalalalalalalala,_ sang Paul's wolf, conscience and mind. Trying to even think about_ things_ would just piss him the fuck off.

"Yeah, okay," Paul said dismissively, still irritated over the medicine thing. "Just make it quick. I can hear Urchin's nervousness and it is not helping."

That had to be the understatement of the year. He could hear her trembling on the paper sheet, smell her anxiety and if he closed his eyes, would fucking bet that she was hunched up into a ball, staring in terror at the closed door Sue had left through.

"We will, Paul, but she might become even more nervous when the doctor enters. I also told him she was deaf but could read lips so he won't be suspicious when she doesn't speak. But…" trailing off, Sue waited until Paul was staring directly at her with his full attention.

"Some women experience discomfort during the exams. It's completely normal and I don't want you to come bursting through the door if she makes any type of distressed noises."

Clenching tightly to the wooden arm rests of the chair he was sitting in, Paul looked at Sue like she was crazy. He damn well, sure as fuck, wasn't going to just sit out here on his happy ass if Urchin was in pain.

Sue beat him to the punch. "Now, I'm going back in there because Dr. Hamlin will be making his way in shortly. I need you to go outside and stay in the forest with Seth."

"What?" Paul asked in disbelief.

"I called Sam after I spoke to you this morning and explained about the appointment," she said entirely guilt free. "Seth is nearby to help you, in case you can't control yourself."

"I am not leaving this chair until Urchin is ready to go!" _Or needs me by her side! _Those thoughts alone caused Paul to shake, not in a phasing manner, but in battle to stay seated versus just prancing his determined ass on back to the exam room with Urchin.

"Yes, you are," Sue smirked, clearly showing the world where Leah had gotten her grit from. "It's not asking too much. Arial is still close enough to you that stepping out won't change the fact. No one here is going to hurt her and if you don't do as I ask, nicely, I will be forced to call Sam again and put you on the phone with him."

"I'm not scared of the big bad Alpha, go ahead. Call him!" Paul stated, calling the bluff. He could feel her huff of indignation fan across his face before Sue tried to change her tactic.

"Paul, why do you make trouble where none exists? If I have to go find a phone to referee you, that means Arial will be by herself even longer. Can you please, just go outside? The quicker I can go in there, the sooner we'll be done."

Staring hard at the woman who was telling him to willingly leave his girl's side, Paul scowled. Sam would probably Alpha order his ass to do something gross and unnecessary, like hiker cleanup. Those nasty ass campers left all sorts of shit just lying around like bundles of shit filled toilet paper and used, crusty filled condoms.

_Fucking nasty!_

Plus…his girl was here to get checked out. Paul didn't need to really hear all the details, preferring for when Sue just gave him the bottom line minus the nitty gritty. Urchin probably wouldn't even want him to see her in an exam room, her dignity already just barely being held on by a thread.

Sighing heavily, Paul stood up and left to go outside. He really didn't want to talk to Seth and hoped the other wolf would understand that and keep his distance. Finding a thick pine tree just inside the forest line, Paul leaned back against the trunk, closed his eyes and hoped his girl would still look at him by the time this shit was over with.

* * *

><p>Bella tensed when a soft knock came at the door and the Sue nurse called out to say she was coming in. The door had barely closed when another knock came, this time announcing a doctor's arrival.<p>

"Hi, Arial. I'm Dr. Hamlin," the man said, looking at her face directly and speaking clearly. He held out his hand to shake hers and Bella slouched away, not at all comfortable or willing to touch it.

If the doctor was offended, he didn't show any signs, dropping his hand and sitting down a stool that he scooted closer to the table.

"Nurse Clearwater tells me that you're good friends with her daughter, Leah," he spoke conversationally, reading whatever was in his hands after he was done talking.

Bella could only stare at the strange doctor as he constantly insisted on looking at her directly when he spoke and making Bella wonder what that was all about. The Sue nurse kept giving encouraging smiles and nods to Bella from across the room.

The entire time he was talking, whether to Bella or the Sue nurse, he kept saying strange things about her 'mistake' with a boy in the woods and how wise she was to take care of it immediately. She almost jerked off the table when he lifted her feet into stirrups, instructing her to relax as the nurse came to stand by her side and hold her shoulders down, suddenly repeating every word the doctor man was saying despite the fact that Bella could hear.

There was nothing that could have prepared Bella for what came next. When the doctor man started to touch her _there_ and inserted something cold and hard, Bella's mind shut down as she was thrust back into the memories of the Underground. She no longer fidgeted or whimpered, locked inside of a hellish nightmare where demons taunted and threatened her helpless body.

Sue could see instantly the shut down Arial went in to. She kept repeating what the doctor was saying, pretending Arial was fine while samples were taken and the examination progressed.

"And, I'm finished, Arial," Dr. Hamlin declared, sealing the sample bags and removing the medical instruments. As he backed the stool away from the table to wash his hands, Sue gently lowered Arial's legs and covered her with the gown.

"Dr. Hamlin, it appears that Arial might have passed out. From embarrassment," Sue spoke quietly, wincing when she heard what sounded like a wolf snarling in anger outside. "I think we should finish her exam before we revive her, if that's okay?"

Most doctors wouldn't dare touch a patient for an examination if they passed out mid-exam. Dr. Hamlin was of a similar mindset, but before deciding, he wondered if Sue knew anything about what he had discovered.

"Sue, you said Arial was a good friend of Leah's. Has she ever…talked to you about anything she's experienced?" The doctor asked

"Not much," Sue admitted honestly before proceeding to lie. "Arial's family is extremely religious, zealots even, and while she's very quiet, Leah's mentioned that she often hangs out with a rough crowd."

"Is she currently in an abusive relationship?"

"Not that I know of, no." Dread swept through Sue like a wildfire. Had Paul done something he shouldn't have? "Why, is something wrong?" She asked, mentally calculating how quickly she could contact Sam in the event that Arial would not be returning to the Lahote house.

"Arial has extensive vaginal scarring, the kind most often seen in patients who have been raped multiple times in a short time span and usually by more than one abuser. There are no present injuries, although, the newest scar looks to be only a few months old."

"Oh my god," Sue breathed in horror. All along, she had suspected it would be something like this, but to hear a doctor confirm it made the situation more real.

"I've taken extensive swabs and we will, of course, need to do a panel of blood work. Has the girl told you who her accident was with?"

"Excuse me?" Sue asked softly, her mind still whirling between the lies she had fabricated in order for Arial to be seen and the heavy dose of truth the doctor had just laid at her feet.

"Are you okay?" Giving Sue a look of concern, Dr Hamlin wondered if her odd response was due to Arial being Leah's friend. It was a bad idea to treat family members and if the girl was exceptionally close to the Clearwaters, Sue's behavior could be explained as being similar to that of a parent.

"The guy she was with?" Dr Hamlin tried again. "State law requires that she disclose the information in the event of gram positive yields."

"Ye..yes. I mean, no," Sue stuttered, a bit unnerved at the extent her lying was about to go. "Arial hasn't said who it was but if the tests come back, I'll make sure she does."

_Shit!_ Sue had never tried to outright break the law and she wondered what her chances were if it came to that. Did the lab automatically send the results to the state or did they assume the medical staff performing the tests would contact the proper officials?

"Did she mention if she's on birth control?" Dr Hamlin questioned, breaking into Sue's criminal thoughts.

_In for a penny, in for a pound,_ Sue thought before mentally stealing herself to continue the fabrication. "No, she's not taking any. I don't think her family would have allowed that."

"Hmm," Dr Hamlin muttered, scribbling some more notes. "It might be a good idea to mention contraceptives if Arial continues to live this type of lifestyle."

The doctor hadn't seen an abuse victim this mistreated since he interned a decade ago at an inner city hospital. Many young girls had been rushed in to the ER bloody, beaten and disfigured to the point of death. More died than could be saved and he fervently hoped that Arial would be a survivor.

"I'll finish looking her over, particularly at the wound you said you were worried about, but until the labs comes back, I'm hesitant to prescribe anything, especially if one of the tests yields positive gram results," he announced, placing the file down and approaching the table.

"Very good, Doctor," Sue mumbled, blindly observing the man as he examined Arial's stomach wound. She was unaware as the doctor made comments of how well Arial's wound was healing and that it probably wasn't as severe as Sue had first thought, considering the flesh was knitting well.

Sue Clearwater was still stuck on the realization that Arial had been sexually abused and not just once, but multiple times throughout her short life. The mother in Sue raged. That this girl's parents had not seen fit to find their daughter or even give her over to a relative when they obviously didn't want her.

Here she was, this girl that Paul had brought home through divine intervention of the Spirits and all the nurse could think about was that it looked like it had been a few years too late. The people in Arial's life now, could ensure that she would never have to live the life she had been. They could try and show her that there was more to life than punishment and acceptance of pain.

But would it be enough? Could a group of people who had never lived the way Arial had, or even dreamed of the degradation the girl had witnessed first hand, help erase the misery Arial had experienced in the years that were supposed to be the building blocks to life?

Whatever the doctor had been doing, Sue didn't notice until Arial sat up suddenly, coughing and whimpering. Scrambling away from the doctor, she almost fell off of the exam table, stopping when Sue came up behind her to act as a brace.

"It's okay, Arial. Dr Hamlin is finished with the exam part and both of us will step outside for you to change back into your clothes," Sue explained, reaching over to the bundle in a nearby chair and setting them on the tabletop.

Either the doctor forgot or he was overly engrossed in his patient's behavior, unmindful of the fact that Sue was standing behind the patient while speaking.

Not that Arial was paying much attention to anything other than the strange man standing in front of her.

"Nurse Clearwater will come back in here once you've changed and take some blood work. We'll have you back in once the results are in, okay, Arial?" The doctor explained, not waiting for a reply.

Sue could still hear canine grunts, whines and unhappiness from outside and decided she had to speed up Arial's progress before someone went outside to see what the noise was about or before a six and a half foot local native came bursting through the doors to abduct his imprint.

"You did fine, Arial," Sue said conversationally while attempting to quickly dress her patient. Rummaging through the clothes, she frowned when she couldn't find Arial's bra. Leah had told her they made sure Paul had bought the girl the beginnings of a wardrobe. Mentally shrugging, Sue decided she'd just add it to the list of things to talk to Paul about later.

"Quickly, now, put on your pants and underwear. The sooner you get dressed, the sooner I can finish the labs and then you can go back home with Paul."

If nothing else, at least the name of her wolf made the girl brighten slightly. Arial did as asked and seemed to be okay until Sue brought the syringe and collection tubes for blood. Wearily, she held out her arm for Sue when asked and then tried to pull back when the needle tip was placed in the crook of her elbow.

"Arial, look at me," Sue demanded, not releasing the girl's arm nor the syringe. When a pair of large, fear laced, brown eyes looked into Sue's, she almost faltered. It was like she could see the girl lose the grip on hopefulness and happiness she was reaching for and as the hypodermic slipped beneath the skin, the small flame vanished.

Sue tried to pretend she was over exaggerating. Arial was just tired and was hoping the exam would soon be over. Once all the vials were collected and Paul came back inside, Arial would be okay.

* * *

><p>Paul was anything but A-O-fucking-K when he came back into the clinic. He had clearly heard everything the doc told Sue and had to do so while Seth was trying to talk him off a destructive ledge. Or off any ledge in general. That boy just wouldn't shut the fuck up, phasing from wolf form to human to stand next to Paul and spout out ridiculous shit like how Paul should have Leah host a party for Arial. Right down to verbally counting how many hamburgers they could split up amongst the group, Seth had just talked! Eventually, Paul had to strip, phase and beat the crap out of the smaller wolf. He hadn't gotten in more than a few good nips since Seth learned pretty fucking fast that his bully wasn't willing to go farther than a few hundred yards from the clinic.<p>

Before Sue could even finish uttering the words "We're all done, Arial," Paul had shimmied himself into a human form, dressed and stalked back inside.

"Hey, Urchin. Are you ready to go?" he asked the only person whose opinion mattered right at that minute. He took one look at her dead eyes, and failed at swallowing the rage building quickly.

"Did you fucking hurt her?" Paul whispered aggressively to Sue. His arms shot out to grab Urchin and tug her next to him.

"She was just surprised by the needle, that's all," Sue said pleasantly as if it were an everyday occurrence. "I'll call you later and let you know what you owe, okay, Paul?"

Eyes flashing, Sue tried to convey the message that still had a lot more than a fee to discuss with Paul and he tried not to groan at the look of over protective mommy shit Sue was exuding like a death cloud.

"If you're going to call, that's fine," Paul agreed. He was still fucking pissed beyond belief, but he had plenty of shit to say as well. "Just make sure you don't pass any notes my way through Sam."

"Paul, I am not dumb. I will either call you, or if I have to make a visit, Sam _will _be accompanying me," Sue declared, telling Paul two things. One, he'd hear back from Sue once she had gathered her thoughts and two, if she was still riled, it would be a face-to-face conversation with Sam standing in between him and the nurse.

"Whatever. We're leaving." Turning around, he simply waved his acknowledgment as Sue tried to give some parting advice of feeding Urchin and letting her nap.

Paul was kinda fucking freaked when he had to lift Urchin into the jeep and buckle her belt. She was lost again somewhere in her head and neither he, nor the wolf, liked feeling shut out. By the time they were back at his house, she was coming around. Her eyes weren't exactly bright, yet she did nod when asked if hungry. She didn't look at him directly when he said she could lounge on the couch. Instead, she shuffled down the hall to his room, went into the bathroom and turned on the shower.

Actually, Urchin going to take a second shower in one day surprised Paul so much he was frozen on the spot momentarily. What the ever loving fuck had he put his girl through in agreeing to let Sue and some quack fucker examine her?

He wanted to believe that this was for the best, but Paul and the wolf within were of the opinion that shit was about to go from bad to worse. If that was the case, there was only one reasonable option left: Take Urchin, ditch Dodge and find a new home where the two could live without interference from the fucked up shittiness of the real world.


	20. Chapter 19

A/N: Extra kudos to my beta, ShadowPast620 for helping iron out some details in this fic. Wolfy hugs and kisses to my wonderful reviewers for sharing their thoughts, concerns and support.

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><p>Paul finally broke free of his escape plan scenarios and went to make lunch for him and Urchin; just regular sandwiches, chips, dip and some oddly cut up fruit as an afterthought. Looking at the clock, he realized that Urchin had been in the shower for a really long fucking time. Not that he was about to bitch, she could stay in there for as long as she wished! But lengthy showers weren't Urchin's style and his inner whiny wolf was pacing in concern.<p>

Paul tried to shut the howling monster up, taking extra fucking slow steps from the kitchen to the dining room and back as he set out the prepared sandwich plates and crap. He hesitated when grabbing two cans of Coke, unable to remember if he had ever seen his girl drink soda and if she even liked it.

He didn't want to dwell on this shit, the constant struggle between offering and insisting whenever it came down to something Urchin should just choose for herself. If he asked generally what she wanted, she'd never answer. He could always offer a choice, but unless he wanted to name every goddamn drinkable thing in the house, he'd still have to offer specifics for her to decide. Much more than three options and she just panicked.

Another ten minutes went by and still no sign of his girl. The water hadn't even stopped running and Paul couldn't fucking take it anymore. Fifteen hurriedly taken long ass strides and he was outside of his bathroom door, arm raised, fist clenched and ready to knock.

The water stopped.

Breathing deeply for balance, Paul left her be, waiting until she'd finally shuffle out to eat lunch with him. _Fucking please, don't let her take forever to come out, he thought,_ taking his seat at the table and trying not to fidget in impatient frustration.

"You okay, Urchin?" Paul asked after she had taken a few bites of her sandwich. She still looked extra broken from her trip to the clinic, not meeting his eyes.

The hand holding her sandwich, hovered between her mouth and the plate, the plate finally claiming victory for placement as she set it back down.

"Come on Urchin, you don't have to stop eating when I talk to you," Paul pleaded. Leaning over the table, he gave her plate a push forward in encouragement. She still didn't look up at him, but she did pick her sandwich back up. Eventually.

"I'm really sorry about the doc visit. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable," he tried again, hoping to trigger whatever subject had left her feeling like this.

Paul's own sandwich tasted flavorless as he relentlessly bit, chewed and swallowed, his eyes never leaving his girl whose own bites became smaller and smaller until she gave up entirely and placed what was left, down.

More than half of it was gone and if Paul was being generous he could say that definitely more than three fourths had been consumed. True, she hadn't eaten all of the sandwich, the chips mysteriously vanishing in small intervals under the table and the fruit slightly nibbled on, but this was a start.

"Look, Urchin, we won't talk about whatever is bothering you, but I have to ask. Do you still want to go out to the movies tonight? Cause I can call dipshit an-" Paul's mouth froze open when Urchin's head jerked up. It wasn't the violent head nodding that caught his attention, it was the sight of two of the most pleading eyes he had ever seen, begging him to go.

"Ohh..okay," he finally stuttered out, amazed that he had fucking lost his ability to talk. Even after agreeing, she still continued to stare, a small burning hopefulness that nearly had him on his knees.

Her chair scratched across the tile as she pushed away from the table to stand. Like, literally, she just fucking stood there, staring at Paul and studying his face. He felt his breath catch when she started to inch towards him, pushing his own chair back and holding his arms out and open for her when she came around the table.

She stopped just out of his reach. He didn't know if it was intentional or not, if his girl had been watching him more intensely, but both seemed to be aware that he would have to slightly lunge forward if he wanted to touch her.

The wolf knew this move; the scared approach of a prey into predator's territory and he waited. Relaxing his form, Paul knew she had to be the one to make contact. If he even fucking farted, Urchin would bolt in fear.

_What was going on in that closed mind?_ Paul thought as she tried to control her rapidly increasing heart rate by shallowly breathing. It was the wrong thing to do, but as long as she didn't completely fucking hyperventilate, he could give two shits less.

Her sudden forward motion preceded the burst of adrenaline, one small urchin wrapping her arms around his neck as she waivered between just hugging and attempting to sit in his lap. Paul didn't even have to think about moving, his arms worked on their own, encircling the figure to lift her up and hug back.

The feeling of peacefulness Paul had unknowingly been missing, bloomed in abundance. All at once like an explosion, he felt the overpowering connection of being a man that held a wolf within as the two converged to rejoice in the acceptance of their mate, partner and life long companion.

"I feel so happy right now," Paul found himself whispering into Urchin's hair. He tightened his hold slightly, enough to be firmly placed against her clothed flesh and continued to marvel at the intimacy of such a simple gesture.

Urchin pulled back to look at him, her eyes once again holding a sliver of…hope? Paul couldn't get a definitive read on the emotion but it sure as fuck was one of those in a higher happy level.

"We are so going to the movies, Urchin. Tonight, tomorrow, next week, whenever you want, we're gonna go," Paul stated simply and truthfully. If his girl needed to visit a theater once a day to act like this, he'd damn well build his own fucking theater right here on the Rez!

He couldn't stop staring at the sudden change in his girl, failing to realize the importance of her happiness. He knew she was happy about the movies, it just didn't occur to him that there was a significance to it other than she wanted to go.

His girl didn't seem to mind being held and he let her stay where she was, the meal completely forgotten and irrelevant to him. Paul also couldn't seem to keep his hands to his own damn self, constantly moving them up to the nape of her neck and then trailing down her back to add a few appreciative swipes to the delectable ass.

His fingers were like memory foam, cupping those cheeks and trying to push her closer still to his own form. If Urchin felt uncomfortable at all, Paul was one clueless bastard; he and the wolf as the two unconsciously plotted a mad dash to the couch, bedroom, hell even the floor. Somewhere/anywhere were they could continue to bond with their imprint in a more intimate fashion.

Like all of his would be perfect moments, this one, too, was disrupted by his phone. Really, he could care less who the fuck was calling and tried to ignore the fucker for as long as possible. However, the constant fucking ringing must have caused his muscles to tense slightly as Urchin began to frown and tried to move off of him.

"Just ignore it," he murmured to his girl, trying to pull her body back against his. She couldn't hear the phone but she also didn't know what was causing his arms and body to harden and Paul himself was clueless to the fact that this type of reaction usually preceded violence to his girl.

When the phone finally shut the fuck up, he did relax but it was too late. Urchin wanted down and his attempts to otherwise keep her seated were beginning to panic the poor girl. With sorrowful reluctance, he dropped his arms, instantly on standby to catch her should she need assistance.

She didn't and made it back to her seat in record time. Her expression was one of confusion along with her quickly souring scent, but her eyes still held a promising gleam. It was that alone that allowed for Paul to finish eating and then get up to clear the table, once again pleasantly surprised when his girl helped and followed him to the kitchen.

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><p>He and Urchin were watching TV, well it was fucking on and she was staring at it. Paul on the other hand, was watching her, his hand leisurely stroking her leg in hopes of her clothes magically, fucking disappearing. Despite the closeness physically being broken, the haze Paul sported wasn't. At least it wasn't until the phone started to chirp again, reminding Paul he owed one sorry ass motherfucker a verbal bashing to end all. His left hand kept up its Urchin exploration mission while he reached over to grab the annoying device.<p>

The name flashing indicated it was the exact same asshole who had called earlier, the cockroach, Brady

"Kiss your sorry ass goodbye, Fuller," Paul threatened into the receiver as a greeting.

"Paul?" The talking cockroach asked, confusion and uncertainty marring the voice.

"You know anyone else who can serve you your own ass in a body bag?" Paul asked carelessly.

Brady was taken aback by the rudeness in Paul's tone. He shouldn't have been, that was just how Paul was. But this Paul was not the same one he had witnessed coddling an imprint earlier in the day. "I…what's wrong?"

"The phone rang. Twice." If Paul was at all worried that the caller wouldn't understand that remark, it didn't show.

Brady sat on the comment for a moment, idly wondering if Paul was talking about him. Surely a man as busy as Paul got more than two phone calls within an hour of each other.

Not wanting to anger the pack psycho even more, Brady rushed forward with his reasoning. "Hey, Regina decided she wants to do dinner first. Can you meet us at Smuggler's Landing around five thirtyish?

The past hour of blissfulness projected brightly in Paul's mind, reminding him of how happy Urchin was about going to the movies. Dinner plans had never been mentioned and he was worried about rocking her already fragile state of mind.

"I don't know if that's a good idea…." Trailing off, Paul glanced at his girl. She could obviously hear the conversation with Paul sitting so close to her but if she was hearing any of it, there wasn't a damn indication.

"Come on, Paul. It's just dinner and Regina wants to get to know Arial. It's kind of hard to talk at the movies, you know?" Brady asked a bit roughly, snapping Paul out of his happy imprint place and bringing forth the wolf all knew and feared.

"Yes, dipshit, I realize that," he spit into the phone, angered beyond coherency. "You do know she doesn't talk, right? What fucking difference will it make?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Urchin flinched, increasing Paul's anger toward Brady and causing his heart to do an unusual and painful clenching.

"Look, we all have to eat," Brady explained like Paul was too dumb to understand. "Regina would like to meet the newest one to our group in a more open environment and dinner is the perfect place. What the hell could go wrong?"

_Everything,_ Paul thought, the wolf within nodding in agreement. It hadn't been the ice cream Urchin had been excited about; it had just been the movies. That alone was enough to make Paul more than hesitant.

"Eat the fuck at home. Or take Regina to dinner and we'll meet at the movies. Either way, dinner as a group does not sound promising."

"Paul...It's not like we're going to hurt her," Brady scoffed at Paul. He knew damn well how angry the guy could get and even if he wasn't a wolf, a human Paul could probably inflict some heavy damage to a shapeshifter if the rage called for it; rage that stemmed entirely from the need to protect a girl.

Paul was really struggling here. He didn't want to hide his girl away from the world. He was damned proud to be seen with her. However, Urchin didn't seem to overly enjoy people; being around them more specifically. Paul was her wolf, though, and it was up to him to make sure that she learned how to be comfortable in these types of situations.

"Fine!" he finally snapped out, anything but pleased about the change of events. "But you two fuckers best behave, or else I'm kicking ass and leaving dead bodies in my wake."

Clicking the phone closed, Paul threw it back on the table, tense as fuck. His girl felt that shit and she tried to move away, causing the wolf to repent and beg, Paul's body losing the tension and slinking into the cushions.

His hand never left her leg and eventually Urchin went back to watching TV as his fingers moved in a restless pattern. Up to her hip and back to her knee, over and over and neither really noticing that with each pass, his fingers moved inwards just a bit.

The feeling Bella didn't know of, grew. Her body relaxed more and more while something inside tightened pleasurably. People only touched her when they expected something, but at the moment, it was Bella who wanted something she didn't recognize. Having never known love, affection or true caring, she felt scared. What if when the time came for the Paul man to get rid of her, she didn't want to go? Despite knowing how to find food and shelter in the Underground, Bella worried

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><p>This restaurant was just as loud as the other one had been and Bella plastered herself against Paul, unknowingly clutching his hand. People were staring and it made her nervous. This wasn't like before when she was living in the Underground. Then, people would look away just as quickly as they initially looked at her, not wanting to see a shabby clothed girl. Here, though, they stared longer, funny looks of surprise and awe.<p>

The Paul man had told her there was a change of plans. He promised they'd still see a movie but before that, the Brady person wanted to eat dinner at a restaurant so Bella could meet the man's M-girlfriend. That's what the Paul man had said and she wondered if the M indicated something more than a regular girlfriend.

"You first," the Paul man said, interrupting her musings and stepping aside to let her climb into the booth.

Wearily taking one last look around her, Bella slid across the bench until she was against the wall and trapped since the Paul man was on her other side and the two strangers sat across from them. The only thing keeping Bella from making a run was that there were a lot of people here. Nobody would attack her in such a public place.

The Paul man casually gripped her hand under the table and gave it a squeeze, startling Bella. Clearing his throat, the other two looked up to stare at them.

"Urchin," he stated, squeezing her hand again and nodding in the direction of the Brady person, "that's Brady, from earlier. And with him, his girlfriend, Regina."

Trying hard not to squirm under the scrutiny, Bella did her best to look…normal. She couldn't make herself smile, but she didn't want them to think she was scared of them. Well, the Brady guy, at least. She was still waiting to see what kind of person the Regina lady was.

This new person was similar in looks to her Leah friend with long black hair and well tanned skin. She was certainly pretty and the Brady guy couldn't keep his hands off of her, a constant stream of giggling and lightly asked 'Stop, please!' from the attention he gave her.

It was when she whispered something in his ear, that he really did stop and then the new lady decided to talk directly to Bella.

"Leah talks a lot about you, Arial," Regina said casually, a fake smile on her face. Bella knew it was fake, her eyes looked secretive, like they were hiding something.

"I'm glad you decided to live with Paul," she continued. "That way we'll all get a chance to know you."

"Yeah," the Brady guy added. "It's about damn time someone cared enough to stick around with Paul," he joked, the Regina lady laughing quietly as well while the Paul man…did he kick the Brady guy?

"Ow!"

"Shut the fuck up and keep that shit to yourselves," the Paul man added.

"Oh, give it a rest, Paul," the Regina lady spoke up, taking a menu from the waiter Bella hadn't noticed until then.

Paul sat one down in front of Bella as well, never letting go of her hand and using his free one to open his own menu. The couple across from them was silent for a few minutes as everyone read over the lists until the Brady man hooted loudly.

"Hell yes! Extra spicy wings!"

"Brady, do not order hot wings. You know they won't even put a dent in your stomach," his girlfriend remarked, not even bothering to look up from her menu.

"Yeah, but they taste good," he answered before giving Regina a kiss on the cheek. "What are you going to have?"

"Probably a wrap." Shutting her menu, she moved sideways to return the kiss, Bella's eyes dropping in embarrassment over such a public display of affection.

Curiously, the menu caught Bella's attention. It had never occurred to her that people would need to be able to read to order food. There were several pages to it and she pretended to study the glossy leaflet.

"Do you know what you want?" The Paul man whispered to her. Without hesitation she pointed at a section of the menu, hoping it was a right choice. Now would not be the time to be picky, whatever it was she'd eat it and be happy.

The Paul man's fast forming frown told her it wasn't.

"Urchin, do you know what that is?"

Shoot, she had been caught, counting on the fact that each section was dinner options. Pulling her hand away, she searched quickly for something else, flipping the menu open and choosing a picture of a sandwich.

"That's better," he chuckled. "Your first choice was a daiquiri." His smile vanished again and he flipped the selection over before turning to face her, a look of fear on his face.

"I completely fucking forgot. Shit, urchin, why didn't you tel-"

Bella watched as he slammed his mouth closed, a funny grinding noise emitting from his jaw. He sounded scary when he decided to speak again, his lips moving but his jaw held tightly closed.

"You have no idea what the choices are, do you? It never occurred to me…" sighing heavily, his jaw relaxed as he bent his head down before looking over at Bella. "Can I tell you what they have and then you can decide what you want to eat?"

_Well, that was unexpected,_ Bella thought. She didn't want to bother the Paul man in helping her. The sandwich looked okay and if he was upset over the idea of reading to her, she had no reason to complain. He started to read, though, before Bella could shake her head.

Her cheeks flamed in embarrassment when she caught the other couple staring her way. Like the Paul man, they probably thought this was a waste of time, no one else needing the help Bella did. She slumped just a little bit lower on the bench, unconsciously squeezing the Paul man's hand when he was reading about a hamburger and sealing her dinner choice.

Not that she cared. Hamburgers were pretty good and unlike some sandwiches, they tasted almost as good a few days later so she'd be able to save some for later. Brightening considerably, she sat back up. Everybody seemed happy about the choice and that was the most important thing.

The waiter came back with drinks Bella hadn't noticed were ordered and again she was surprised when Paul pushed a glass towards her.

"I know you like Coke, so I got us both one. Is that okay?" He whispered while the other two guests were giving their orders.

Nodding, Bella busied herself with drinking from the straw so when the waiter asked what she wanted, it looked normal for the Paul man to answer for her. She didn't care what he asked for sides or toppings and sighed in relief when the waiter left. To show appreciation, she squeezed the warm hand in her lap again and tried to give the Paul man a smile. One that he easily returned.

Bella teetered between taking small sips and gulping down her soda. The sweet liquid was addicting to her tongue and she knew from experience that it could easily fill her up. However, that type of meal also left her feeling hungry more quickly and she wanted no reason for the Paul man to think they shouldn't see a movie because her tummy would start making noises. Instead, she chewed on the tip of the straw, poking the roof of her mouth when the Regina lady spoke.

"So, Arial, why don't you talk?" She asked, resting her elbows on the table and leaning over. "I mean, you can, right? You just don't want to."

Trying both not to panic and extract the straw from her mouth, Bella looked to her companion on the left hoping he could just nicely tell them that she preferred not to and that the Regina person would change the subject.

Such was not the case as Paul sucked in a sharp breath and Brady stilled, his own face dropping from a carefree cheerfulness to one of defense.

"You bitc-"

"PAUL!"

"What?" he snapped back disbelievingly. "I already fucking told you my girl doesn't like to talk. Didn't you tell Reggie to back the fuck off about that shit?" He asked, his eyes staring into the shocked face of Regina. The name Reggie was a pet name only Brady called her when they were alone and to hear it fall from Paul Lahote's lips was as effective as a slap.

"Stop being an overprotective asshole, Paul!" Brady demanded, his clenched fists coming to rest on the table. "Re-gin-a," he said slowly, enunciating his imprint's proper name, "was only trying to be friendly. Nobody means anything by normal questions and every time you jump our shit, it looks bad on you!"

"You're pushing too hard, too fast, Fuller. I didn't ask you to be careful just for shits and giggles. If I 6hought your tactics were worthwhile, I'd sit back and let be," Paul explained. He was deathly still, deadly calm and less than dust mite's dick width away from exploding.

Fully squishing herself into the corner of the booth, Bella didn't know what to do. The Paul man was mad and so was the new, Brady guy. Or was his name Fuller? It didn't really matter; he probably had multiple names like she did. She also wasn't upset about the talking question. There was no way to explain about the demons, even if they couldn't find her.

The table started to shake slightly and Regina realized her error instantly. Brady may be a young wolf, but he definitely had a trigger temper like Lahote did when it came to imprint disparaging.

"I didn't…Paul, I'm sorry," Regina pleaded, grabbing Brady's arm to subtly remind him now was not the time or place. "I wasn't trying to be rude; I just thought it was strange and that I'd ask."

Her words had every little affect on soothing Lahote and if his ass didn't calm down, neither would Brady's.

"Arial, please forgive me," Regina once again pleaded, hoping that if the imprint accepted the aplogy, the wolves would mellow. "I figured that there might be a reason you're choosing not to speak. I didn't mean to upset you."

Apparently her huddling mechanism was a bad idea also. The Paul man unexpectedly pulled her away from the wall and hugged her to his side; his left hand planted firmly against her tummy and his right clutching the table.

"Listen closely, family," the Paul man said, looking across the table and making Bella wonder if they were his brother and sister. "Urchin is still getting used to us. When she wants to talk, she will. Until then the subject is fucking closed."

"Fine!" Brady snapped, irritated at Paul for talking in a derogative manner to Regina. With a few more well placed sneers and humanly inaudible growls, the two wolves went back to their own little imprint bubbles.

Paul wanted nothing more than to suddenly leave and tear Fuller a new one. That was until he realized his Urchin was upset, getting worse and not calming down at all. She was already seated leg to leg against him and Paul held no qualms about hoisting her up and sitting his girl in his lap…more like straddling a single leg.

"Don't listen to their shit, Urchin," he whispered into her ear, inwardly smirking when Fuller tensed up again. "When you want to talk, you will and even if you never do, that's okay, too."

The words came easier than the reality. It wasn't like Paul was a talkative motherfucker to begin with and Urchin didn't seem to mind it, so why the fuck should he?

_Because it's normal and expected to talk_, that shitty inner voice piped up and making Paul shake his head slightly. He had fast as fuck healing abilities, maybe he should ask someone to perform brain surgery on him and find the source of his inner voice to surgically remove it?

It was as if Urchin could hear the shitty voice, too, because she found Paul's hand and began to rub the top of it. She couldn't grasp it completely and instead, used some weird imprint only shit to make the motion feel like fucking heaven.

_Imagine what it'll feel like on your dick!_ Horny Paul popped up out of fucking nowhere.

Lost to both the ideas and feelings, Paul dropped his head forward into Urchin's hair. It was loose and slightly tangled, giving Paul enough pause to wonder if she had brushed it again after her second shower or forgot about it. Whatever, she looked fuck hot and he could care less. When they got home, he could always suggest brushing it for her, not because the task was overtly sexually but because it meant she'd sit in between his legs and start to relax. If he kept up the motion long enough, she'd probably fall asleep against him and yeah! That shit was a bonus.

When the waiter arrived with the food, Paul slid Urchin back to his side, keeping a firm grasp on her hand and eating with the other. Keenly aware, the wolf noted how much she enjoyed the hamburger. The thing looked huge, her slim fingers trying to keep the thing together when she took small bites. To help her out, Paul causally cut it into quarters, Urchin's eyes wide and a bit scared looking at first but relaxing when he set the knife down away from her.

He really didn't give a flying fuck that Regina seemed to be pouting, all silent and sullen and shit as Brady kept up a steady stream of conversation meant for her only. Paul wanted urchin to feel like she had friends but clearly regina wouldn't be one of those. If this shit kept up, he'd talk to Leah. Alpha's Imprint kept the rest of the girls in a line and for once, Paul was going to take advantage of it.

"Are you done eating?" Paul whispered to his girl when he noticed she hadn't moved to take any more bites after some time.

She blinked once before nodding, pushing her plate away slightly to give him a look of…Paul had no idea. She didn't appear to be upset or nervous but she wasn't real happy either.

"As soon as we pay, we're gonna go to the movies like I promised, okay?" he reassured the delicate form.

That comment did earn him a smile and a wave of her excitement, causing Paul to relax again and enjoy the company. Fuck, he felt like a wuss, sitting here grinning and shit. The bigger part of him, though, felt like he ruled the world by making his Urchin happy.

"Would you like a take home box?" the waiter asked, causing Paul's stupid grin to slowly bleed away.

"Geez, Paul. I can't believe there's something to take home. Are you feeling sick?" Brady asked snidely. He meant to lighten the mood, but was still slightly enraged himself.

"Ha ha, Fuller," Paul said, forgetting all about the earlier incident. "Shut the fuck up before I kick you where it counts." Turning to address the waiter, his tone was just as light. "No, no box, just the check."

Sadly, Bella stared at her half eaten burger as it was taken away, pulling her free hand back under the table before she could grab it. She had tried to eat more than normal, but it was a really big burger. Plus, she had gotten French fries! They tasted a lot better warm, unlike the cold ones she had found on occasion in discarded bags and more filling than suspected.

"Urchin, were you still eating? I asked if you were done," The Paul man whispered, startled at her behavior.

He didn't seem to be upset that good food she had been unable to finish was going to waste and Bella tried to plaster a smile on her face while agreeing that she had been done. He looked like he didn't believe it, though, but thankfully let the incident pass without further comment.

"Paul?" Regina questioned hesitantly as the group stood up to leave. "Did you guys have a preference to what movie we see?"

Double shitters! In all the excitement Urchin had exuded over going out and even though he had tried to ask her what type of movies she liked, Paul hadn't actually looked up to see what the titles were and ask Urchin if she had a preference.

'I don't know," he tried to remark casually. It wasn't like he had a burning desire to see anything specific; whatever shit his girl wanted to watch was good enough for him. "I suppose whatever is playing soon."

Casting a sly glance at Urchin, he was pleased to see that she was still looking slightly happy. It also added a layer of doubt to his thinking. Was she really that excited just to go and didn't really care what the movie was as long as she could watch something?

"Right," Regina agreed softly, noticing Arial giving Paul a look of adoration. "There's a family movie starting in twenty movies, we'll go see it." She gave a hard pinch to Brady when he started to groan. Her man had been so hopeful that Paul would demand to see some guy flick and leaving the girls vetoed in movie choices.

_Maybe Paul's imprint was a good thing?_ Regina questioned as they exited the restaurant. In the few short years she had known Lahote, he had never agreed to watch a family movie, not even when Sam demanded it on pack get-togethers.


	21. Chapter 20

A/N: Kudos to my beta, ShadowPast620. Hugs and kisses to my reviewers, thank you. :)

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><p>Paul had never seen his girl look so happy before, at least not for such an extended period of time. The entire drive back to the Rez and she was bright eyed, practically bouncing in her giddiness. A far change from the trip there when she had huddled in her seat, either looking out the window fearfully or casting him sly looks of weariness.<p>

Urchin had seemed happy when the group decided to forgo the ice cream trip. Paul had asked her several times before leaving Port A if she was sure. He'd happily drive over to the ice cream shop and get her something, but Urchin had indicated a firm 'no' the first time, patting her stomach in what he assumed meant she was full.

The second time he asked her, her smile had wilted a little bit and her 'no' wasn't as firm. Paul had never back tracked a response so fast in his life, quickly agreeing that she was right, they'd just make themselves sick if they tried to shove more shit in their mouths.

She didn't even seem to mind the hand he had placed on her thigh, going so far as to pet it and making Paul fantasize about all sorts of wicked crazy shit he wanted to do once they got home. He had zero control over his itchy fingers. The rat bastards kept trying to move inward and upwards, her leg becoming a treasure map to the promised horny land.

Paul's good mood came to an abrupt halt when they finally pulled into his driveway; Sue's car a beacon of shit to come. He tried not to scare Urchin when he angrily popped his jeep into neutral and yanked the safety brake up. He jumped out, ignoring his late night guest and went around to help Urchin, the poor girl staring at the car and not paying attention to the door handle her hand was fumbling for.

"Come on, Urchin. I'm going to take you inside and then come out here to deal with them. I promise, you don't have to be around to hear this shit at all, okay?" Paul told her, carefully extracting her from the jeep. She had yet to break eye contact with Sue's form standing on the porch, but when she briefly registered the word 'them' her eyes turned to the other end of the porch where Sam was leaning on the banister.

The awfully eeping sound she made caused both Sam and Paul to shudder, the latter one suddenly holding a clinging imprint. Kicking the jeep door closed with his boot, he carried Urchin to the house, refusing to say shit to the two trouble makers as he unlocked the front door and went inside even when both of them said hello to Urchin.

"Urchin, look," he tried to explain when detangling her arms from around his neck. "I have the key right here in my pocket. I'm gonna lock the door and neither one of them will come in, okay? You'll be safe inside while I go kick them off my property."

Gently grabbing both of her legs wrapped around his waist, he tried to free himself, but no sooner were they loose and he moved to work on her arms when the legs came back to holding on the waist. Had any female other than his imprint been trying to pull this shit, Paul would've carelessly just thrown them onto the couch.

Urchin, however, would never be physically handled like that as long as Paul still had full control of his senses.

Squatting down in front of the sofa, he grabbed her legs again, pulling them apart and then bracing his knees on top of her thighs to keep her pinned so he could use his arms to remove her arms and hold her in position.

"Urchin, you are not leaving here with them nor are they fucking coming inside, okay? But I have to go out there and hear whatever shit they feel is so goddamn important to discuss at ten thirty at night before I give 'em the boot," he told his saddened girl as he took a huge step away.

Making a fast beeline for the front door, Paul couldn't decide if she was scared for him or herself, that goddamn heart wrenching eeping noise she kept making while struggling to stay attached to his torso. He was also having a bitch of a time keeping his inner whiney wolf at bay, the traitorous shitter telling him to ignore the fuckwads outside and just stay here, inside and on the couch with Urchin.

"Well, well, well, daddy Alpha," Paul drawled out as he opened the front door to step outside. "This seems awfully fucking familiar: You, trying to jump my shit before I can even park my goddamn jeep."

Sam eyed the angry man carefully. "Calm down, man. We just-"

"Thanks for that, douchebags!" Paul said sarcastically cutting off whatever Sam had been about to say. "Thanks for ruining my perfect night and scaring the ever living shit out of Urchin for no goddamn reason!" Paul thundered once the front door had clicked shut behind him. He told himself he was breathing heavily due to anger and part of it was. The other part was from his own distress in needing to leave her like that, even if it was only for a few minutes.

Sue had already taken a step forward to greet Paul and quickly retreated to stand closer to Sam, who had stood to his full height in preparation for the angry wolf.

"Paul, we tried to call you, but you never answered your phone," Sam explained.

"Because I was in the goddamn movie theater," Paul spat out as if the answer was obvious.

Sighing, Sam took a step forward, trying to gauge the easiest way to diffuse Paul. "I didn't find out about that until after I heard Collin's thoughts which is why we came over to just wait for you."

"Why didn't you just call again?" Paul asked, holding his ground and eyeing his Alpha disdainfully. "Or wait until I called you?"

"You almost never call back, Paul," Sam said tiredly, halting his movements when catching a glimpse of Paul's wolf flash through his eyes.

"You knew I was on tonight. We could have met up then," Paul said, his emotions rippling violently in both his voice and stance.

Having to share a pack consciousness sucked most of the time. To be judged on your emotions was an unavoidable mind rape. The only valuable thing about it was that whoever had the misfortune to read Paul's thoughts also phased, saving Paul from having to wait before he could tear into them.

If Sam had just fucking waited, Paul wouldn't need to do this verbal Dr. Phil shit.

"Paul, please," Sue stepped in, knowing this conversation was already going to be stressful. "Don't be so angry at Sam. I was the one who insisted we talk face to face, not him."

"And you!" Paul nearly shouted, turning his scowling face to Sue. "I have no idea at what point Urchin hit her threshold earlier today, but you've lost any respect I may have had at your intended goodwills."

Sue freely gaped at the young man she had known most of his life. He was often brash and spoke his mind freely, unmindful of consequences. Yet, even in most circumstances, his sarcasm held some respect for the elder tribe members. "You heard what Dr Hamlin said," Sue whispered, her voice quickly gaining volume. "That poor girl has been living in an abusive life!"

Paul's lips curled into a viscous smile. "Yeah, I kinda fucking figured that shit out when I found her in a goddamn sewer."

"She needs help," Sue demanded in a tone that clearly said help was lacking.

"She has it!" Paul yelled back and stalked down the stairs, off the porch and into the yard. He whirled around suddenly, glaring at his accuser as he jabbed himself in the chest. "Me, I'm her help. I take care of her wounds, and buy her clothes, and feed her, and in case you fucking forgot, we just got back from the movies."

Why couldn't they understand? His urchin could ask for whatever she wanted and he'd do what he could to get it for her. The thing everyone seemed to fucking forget was that she never asked! She hadn't asked for new clothes or food and while he still would've provided her with that simple shit unasked, the fact was that he had made his girl happy. She had everything she needed!

Paul then thought about the date they had just had. His urchin lit up like a fucking Christmas tree from having gone out to the movies tonight. She had slunk down slightly when some people had tried to sit nearby, but Paul had made sure they moved. He had stretched his boot clad feet into the seats in front of them, slurped his soda, and chewed popcorn loudly until the people moved to a different section of the theater.

He almost laughed out loud when he recalled Regina's look of disgust at his behavior. He thought for sure she'd get Brady to move as well until the young wolf had caught on and explained that Paul was just trying to get the others to leave.

The brief memories of the movie calmed him slightly before Sue opened her damn trap to talk.

"Nobody is saying differently, Paul, but she's going to need psychological help as well. The poor thing refuses to talk, probably because she's terrified to do so and not just about what her life was like, what she was forced to do and be a part of, but because she's probably snapped."

_Snapped?_ Paul was about to show this group just what a snapped mind looked like if they didn't shut the fuck up!

"There is not one damn thing wrong with her!" He yelled out as if volume would emphasis his point. "You guys keep saying there is, that she's all fucked up and that you want to help her, but all I see is that every time you approach her, she fucking flips out and wants no part of it! And yeah, she might get fucking scared when I raise my voice or shit, but who the hell wouldn't? Only a fucking stupid person would pretend like everything was okay when someone three times their size starts yelling. Her behavior is normal."

"Paul…you can't go through something like Arial has been through, multiple sexual brutal assaults, and just shrug it off as a bad day," Sue exclaimed taking a step to the stairs. The warmth of Sam's hand falling on her shoulder alerted Sue to the fact that she should probably stay where she was.

"And you can't fucking change her past." Paul gritted his teeth and dropped his voice, the pain and anger still sharp in his words. "Go ahead, talk about that shit until you're blue in the face and at the end of the day, what are you left with? A person who has been hurt and is forced to relive every horrid detail because some twat nurse wants to talk about it!"

Sue was unaffected by the insult, but Sam took offense. "You are out of line here," the Alpha intoned. "Sue is doing everything she can to make sure Arial can get the medical attention she has been denied for so long."

"Oh my fucking Christ!" Paul raged. "Are you fucking deaf and blind, too, Alpha? Urchin is not sick. She is not in pain, nor does she require any treatment right now."

"How do you know she doesn't want to be seen by a doctor, Paul?" Sue relentlessly questioned. "Have you asked her?"

"I don't have to fucking ask her! She saw you and flipped the fuck out which tells me she doesn't want to see a doctor."

_Why the fuck were they hounding over this topic?_ Urchin didn't need more goddamn strangers in her life, she needed the stability of her mate only and Paul knew he was succeeding on that end. It may not be fucking normal by any means, but he sure as fuck wasn't normal to begin with.

"She's just scared, Paul," Sue continued to ramble, only fueling his ire. "She acted the same way around you the first couple of days, too. Once she gets to know us and understand that we are helping her, she'll be more relaxed."

"No!" Paul snarled, his face shimmering with the wolf. "You can't poke and prod her, telling her that it's fucking normal and expect her to roll over with welcoming arms."

"Did you not see what she did as soon as you got home?" Sue asked shrilly.

"Yeah, she tried to get the fuck away from you two!"

"No, Paul, she has somehow appointed you as the lesser of several evils. Arial feels upset around Sam because as a man, he poses a threat to her much like I hear she acts around the rest of the guys. She's upset around me because I had to take blood work, but she doesn't get as overanxious when in the presence of females. However, she would choose to be near you as opposed to anyone else."

Paul tried to process Sue's logic for less than three seconds before the scorn rolled out of his mouth. "Not wanting to stand next to other imprints sure as fuck doesn't mean she's messed up and if you're telling me she should be scared shitless of me, but is instead happy to be around me, I think you've missed the whole fucking aspect of imprinting, Sue."

"You aren't bonding as a couple, Paul; you are being bonded as a…a…safety net. It could have been any one of the guys to keep her in their homes and she would have the same instincts. Arial is just trying to survive and you've somehow proven to her that you are the safest person to be around when she's feeling attacked."

"You think she's using me?" Paul asked, a moment of disbelief throwing him out of his rage before the true meaning barreled back, fury riding high.

Sue knew he was angry, but was unaware of the magnitude of the rage about to be released. Pleadingly, she continued to speak. "Not intentionally, but yes, I think Arial is using you. And I'm not saying your relationship with her will never work, but she needs to learn how to-"

"Leave. Right the fuck, NOW!" Paul bellowed, dropping to his knees as the final shreds of control seeped away.

Sam had been loath to interfere with Sue's urgent request to talk directly to Paul. He knew Paul would phase and soon, but the human was still fighting the shift much like they all had the first time. It hurt like a bitch to hold the inner form down and he was rather proud of Paul. Usually that boy's temper exploded the wolf outward like a water balloon hitting the pavement from a fifty foot drop, but now, as the angry man allowed his inner form to consume him, Sam stepped in to protect the innocent.

The growls and snarls leaving Paul's wolf mouth were only a small portion to show Paul's lethalness. The canine's lips were pulled back to expose the full line of fangs and gums as heavy lines of saliva dripped from the jaws. The creature's ears appeared to be almost nonexistent, stretched back and down over the skull

Picking up a startled Sue, Sam jumped over the porch, striding quickly to place her in the car.

"Drive away, Sue, please. I can't talk to him with you nearby right now," Sam said hurriedly before turning away. "I'll talk to you tomorrow."

He had walked over earlier to meet Sue and wait for Paul, not bothering to wear any type of shoes, but donning a shirt and jeans for Arial's sake. He now stripped quickly to deal with the angry wolf, ignorant of Sue's car leaving and trying not to wince once he entered the whirlwind of Paul's mind.

"Get the hell away from me, Alpha," Paul thought as he slowly advanced to Sam. "My house, my land, my right."

"To ask for Sue to leave, yes. But not to demand your Alpha to go," Sam replied softly before resorting to a more earthen tone. "Stand down, Paul."

Paul had heard more than enough of the commanding bullshit and was unwilling to play nice. "The fuck I will! All of that shit you just made me listen to, it's fucking bullshit." Every word was only a thought, however the body of a wolf Paul currently inhabitated reacted to the emotion, growls and snarls echoing loudly in the near dark yard.

"Perhaps," Sam agreed diplomatically, shifting approach tactics. "But others will talk about Arial as well. About her fear of strangers or people trying to talk to her."

_Talk about Urchin? Strangers? Friends? His pack mates?_ Paul reeled at the idea. Fuck the world and its shitty ideas of what was right. If they felt high and mighty for making fun of his girl then they weren't even worth the shit they made.

"She did fine at the movies," Paul stressed. "Look."

Replaying the exact scene he had thought of earlier, Paul was unable to focus on the emotional read from Sam concerning his thoughts on the event. And he truly didn't really give a fuck either. He knew his urchin had thoroughly enjoyed herself even if other people had startled her. Urchin wasn't looking to Paul for an apology when he wanted to rip the arms off of some fuckwit who sat too close and he sure as hell didn't need one from her if a stranger's closeness bothered her.

"I'm not saying she didn't," Sam cut in, his mental resonance echoing loudly, "but don't you want to help her as best as you can? Don't you want her to be rid of whatever demons taunt her?"

"Don't ask me such a goddamn stupid question, Alpha. Of course I do, but it's not going to happen overnight and you keep acting like it's taking too long."

"I'd be more concerned if she was suddenly okay, Paul. Sue was only trying to express her opinion based on both a medical stand point and an imprint one. Arial is already going to feel exceptionally attached to you, however, that won't make her past problems disappear. All of us want your relationship to succeed. That is why we push."

"Did you ever stop to fucking think that maybe not everyone needs to be treated for their past? It's not like my girl has just rolled over and let me fuck her senseless. There are plenty of things we need to still work out and I would think that if I can take the fucking time to make sure it's working, the rest of you would back the fuck off and let it be."

"It's not a one man job, Paul," Sam projected more forcefully than he intended. "Let us, as the pack, help."

"By sending Urchin to some shrink? No fucking way!"

"No, not like that. At least not right away and never, if she really doesn't want to go. This weekend, bring her to my house. I'll have all the guys and imprints there and we can show her there is no reason to be afraid."

"You want to place her in a room full of abnormally large guys and teach her? Are you fucking nuts?" Paul asked rhetorically.

"You said it yourself, she did okay at the movies, and at my house you'll be very close to oversee and assure her there is nothing to fear."

Both wolves stared at each other, Sam waiting for Paul to run through all of the possible what ifs and scenarios of what could go wrong at a get together. Carefully, Sam inserted scenes and suggestions of unity amongst the wolves; of the family bonding that took place when they gathered as a whole to take comfort from each other's presence.

Paul wasn't stupid nor was he easily manipulated, but the subliminal messages Sam left as a hazy mist seeped into his unconscious nonetheless, giving Sam the break he wanted.

"I'll fucking ask her, but if she says no at all, the subject is closed! I'm not about to force her ass to go anywhere she doesn't want to, you got that?" Paul demanded uneasily, wondering why such a shitty fucking idea felt like the best decision.

"For the sake of this gathering, yes, I'll agree and I'll also talk to Sue about her ideas and ask her to slow down if you agree to apologize to her."

"Not like I think she deserves a fucking apology, but I'm pretty damn sure Leah will be all over my ass about it once she hears what went down between her mom and me."

"Well…I'll try to distract her with the idea of the party. She really likes Arial which is odd because half the time she hates me and she's my imprint," Sam joked, hoping the levity would ease Paul's lingering tension.

"Fine," Paul huffed, finally sitting down on his massive haunches. "Can you please get the fuck out of here now? I still have to go back in and comfort Urchin from this shit."

With a small grumble, the black wolf took off into the surrounding forest. Any other night he would've argued relentlessly with the hothead about his dismissive attitude. However, Sam knew he wasn't going to win anything with Paul and the fact that Leah would be over the moon at the thought of hosting a welcoming party for Arial made him happy.

Assuming Leah didn't try to first kill him for the Sue mishap.

* * *

><p>The yelling and shouting and screaming and then…Bella tried desperately not to whimper or make any sounds as to where she was hiding when the yard erupted into scary monster noises. She had been terrified to see Sue waiting for them, but then the Paul man had left her to go outside to talk.<p>

Talk about what, though? She had heard the echoes of yells and while she couldn't make out the words, she sure as heck knew anger when she heard it. The Sam person hadn't looked upset and Bella wondered if he was yelling, too. Was he asking the Paul man to hand her over?

Bella completely forgot about the Sam man when a monstrous roar shook the house and footsteps clattered across the front porch. Not even willing to see what could have caused such a sound, she slunk off the couch and bolted for the basement, choosing the darkest corner to hide.

Even in her fear induced haze, Bella clearly heard when the front door closed and footsteps moved across the house. When the basement door was swung widely open and the Paul man called out an inquisitive "Urchin?" she was too scared to move, yelping when the blanket was unexpectedly pulled away from her.

"Shit! Jesus, I'm sorry, Urchin. Come on, let's go back upstairs. It's too fucking cold to be down here at night."

It might have been a little breezy down here, but Bella much preferred shivering in cold rather than shivering in fear. She really, really didn't want to go upstairs where there were windows and whatever had been making those growly noises could see them. It didn't seem to be an option, though, considering the Paul man had picked her up and was walking towards the stairs.

"See? You're fucking freezing from being down there," he said mistaking her trembles. "They're all gone now and won't be back tonight."

Bella didn't even try to think about that as she was placed on the couch. She tried to make herself even smaller and less visible from any windows by wrapping arms tightly around her legs and tucking her head downwards. She felt him sit down next to her, his hand reaching out to curl around and rub her shoulder.

"Urchin, you're starting to scare me a bit with all this cowering shit. I thought you were just cold, but are you scared?"

Heck yes she was scared! Very much so. Obviously the Paul man had seen whatever monster or beast was outside and while he may have been able to chase it away, those things always came back. He was so tall, the creature could probably see him from wherever it was and once they went to sleep, they'd be attacked or eaten.

"What can I do to help, Urchin?" He asked softly, making her think.

He had already said they couldn't stay in the basement, that hiding spot was out. And since he was so big, Bella doubted that they could both hide in her closet. The only thing left was to try and make them unnoticeable, although, if the growly thing was a true monster, it really didn't matter where they hid.

Slowly lifting her head to turn and stare at the Paul man, she studied his expression, mood and stance very carefully. He seemed to mean what he was asking, no trace of anger on his face or eyes. Actually he looked like he wanted her to rub his hand in comfort or something.

She knew that if she started to move, he probably wouldn't do so himself unless angry. Carefully she unfolded her form, trying not to look near any of the windows and biting her lip when the Paul man had to help untangle the blanket from around her.

He still didn't talk when she shifted her own position and the tried to pull him down on the couch. Bella wasn't stupid, she knew she couldn't really move him, but was hoping he'd let her lead him this way. He seemed to be shocked, stuck in his sitting position and she found it easier to crawl into his lap and kiss his lips; an action that turned him from a statue into a participating recipient.

Bella had meant to lure the Paul man into lying down. Instead, she got caught up in the kiss, her mouth opening when his tongue ran across her lips softly and a hand was touching her…

His hands and lips were doing things she knew of, but had never received pleasure from. Bella forgot all about her hiding plans as she felt her hips being guided to press closer into him, something not a hand rubbing between her legs and causing a weird whimper noise.

"Shh, Urchin. Doesn't this feel good?" He asked, pulling away to kiss her jaw and make his way to her ear.

_This…what was this?_ She thought half heartedly, not caring and shifting awkwardly to find more of it. Lost completely to the feel of lips moving down her neck, she surrendered, unaware of the Paul man eventually pulling her down and then shifting so that she was laying on top of him.

The pleasure between her legs intensified and then subsided as her hips shifted. In a move of desperation to find the contact, Bella jerked awkwardly, vaguely aware of a chuckle and another hushing sound as warm hands held her hips to help find that spot that wanted pressure…

She gave up trying to figure out what was happening. Her body said this was right and her senses didn't tell her there was any danger. Let him do this and be happy! The blanket shifted again when the Paul man tugged it from her and threw it down, Bella began to remember the importance of needing to hide.

Blearily she eyed the crumpled mess on the floor. She needed that blanket for something…to feel better about…the Paul man was making her feel pretty good somehow.

"Come here, Urchin," he murmured to her, using a hand to tilt her face back towards his, soft lips grazing across hers. It was the feel of fingers running up her side and on bare flesh that finally broke through the fog clouding her mind.

Despite being slightly concerned that she might have accidently bit his lip when she yelped, Bella continued to struggle. Relived when the arms around her loosened, she slid to the side to grab the blanket.

"Urchin?" The Paul man questioned, holding her body steady as she dangled off the couch to retrieve the blanket.

"Are you still cold?" he asked, sitting them both back up when she had the material in her hand.

Bella eeped in despair. She now had the blanket, but they were no longer hidden on the couch since the Paul man had sat up. The windows glared menacingly at her, no doubt the shadows beyond still hiding some monster.

She did feel cold and not in a way related to the ambient temperature. Bella wanted to grab Paul's hand, pull him off the couch and run away. To somewhere safe and protected where the demons and scary bear creatures couldn't hurt them. No such place existed, though, and as pathetic as it sounded, Bella wanted to hide them both under the blanket and just hold him until whatever end came.

"Urchin?" he questioned again as Bella tried to fling the blanket messily over them.

The Paul man grabbed the edges and tucked the blanket over her, the edging curling around her neck and shoulders and still leaving them out in the open. Grabbing the blanket once again, Bella pulled it up and over, her hands holding the edges tightly closed behind the Paul man's head as she plastered herself onto his chest. She had no idea if he had caught on, but thankfully he didn't ask any more questions or try to remove the flimsy shielding.

Bella didn't think she'd be able to relax until the sun came up. Clinging tightly to the Paul man underneath the protective shroud with his arms wrapped around her, she finally gave in to the weight of her eye lids, slowly dozing to the sound of his heart thumping until she was truly and deeply asleep.

Paul thought he was fucking suffocating underneath the fleece his girl had wrapped tightly around them. He had no clue in Hell as to what had scared her shitless, but damned if he was going to make a move that would wake her up and start that shit all over again.

He was late for patrol and true to form didn't give a rat's ass, making sure Urchin was truly out of it before he maneuvered himself out from underneath her. He left the blanket completely over her body, her small form curled into the warm cushions he had just vacated. Paul figured he'd leave her on the couch while he did his Rez run -Urchin seemed rather partial to sleeping on the couch—then when he got back, he'd take her to his bed where they could both comfortably stretch out.

An hour later, after Paul had checked all the nooks, crannies and piles of bunny shit –he did that just to annoy the piss out of Sam during reports— he returned home to stare at the person always on his mind.

Urchin hadn't even shifted during the time he was away and Paul was glad of that, scooping her up to take back to his bed. He was damn tired of the maniac emotional shit being thrown at him and Urchin from the pack and as he curled himself around the tiny ball her form made beside him, he tried to relax.

For a few brief minutes, she had responded to him in a way he could only hope would increase. People and werewolves alike were still biological creatures driven by three basic instincts: food, shelter and sex. The first two were covered and obviously there was more to an imprint than just endless, uncomplicated mind blowing fucking, but goddamn if that wouldn't help take the edge off a bit. He knew damn well he could give her everything a lover required, the problem was, Urchin had yet to allow Paul to show her.


	22. Chapter 21

A/N: Kudos to my wonderful beta, ShadowPast620. Wolfy hugs and kisses to all of my wonderful reviewers. :)

I humbly apologize in advance for the awkward chapter cut off. This scene was rather long and the second half is almost done with just a few minor touch ups required.

* * *

><p>Paul stretched long and wide, his morning yawn silent as he reached his arms across the mattress in search of his future, fingers seeking…an urchin who wasn't there.<p>

_Another semi-wonderful morning of waking up alone_, Paul thought as he swung his legs over the side of the bed. He fucking hated that his girl woke up before him and felt the need to sleep elsewhere but chalked it up to nervousness. Five out of the eight sleeping hours she _was_ next to him and that mattered more than he could even begin to fucking understand.

Tilting his head in search of urchin sounds, he determined she was in her room probably still asleep considering the only thing he heard was soft, even breathing. Fucking perfect as far as Paul was concerned as this gave him the chance to jump in the shower and then go start breakfast for them.

_Yeah so frozen waffles weren't exactly gourmet shit or anything,_ he observed fifteen minutes later in the kitchen, but he had plenty of strawberries and whipped cream to make it look damn impressive. Looking at the leaning tower of waffles with red and white stuff leaking everywhere, Paul figured it probably more closely resembled a condemned house for Strawberry Shortcake.

Fuck it! Demolition was just as much a part of construction as building was and Urchin wouldn't give a shit what it looked like as long as it tasted good. As he carried the dishes into the dining room Urchin looked up with a tentative smile.

"Here," Paul told her as he set the plate down in front of her before taking his own seat. Wisely keeping his own fucking mouth quiet, he waited until his girl finished and pushed her plate away before he slid it in front of himself to finish it off and let her know of the plans.

"So, look, Urchin, I know we didn't really talk about it and that's fucking fine, but Leah would really like it if we went over to her house this afternoon for a party."

The look of contentment Urchin had been wearing vanished quickly, replaced by one of extreme caution.

"Yeah, I know," Paul agreed softly, wishing he hadn't waited so long to ask her. "I mean, if you don't want to go, we won't. I swear. It's just that I figured…" trailing off, he was fucking lost.

What the fuck had he been thinking? That Urchin would smile happily at being stuck in a room full of people she didn't know? Fuck, Paul did know these people and he wasn't exactly tickled pussy pink at the idea of wasting a whole afternoon and evening with them!

Urchin had yet to move and Paul decided he'd better just man the fuck up and spit this shit out.

"Anyway, Leah said she really wanted to do this for you and it'd give you a chance to meet the rest of the girls. But if you'd rather not and just want to hang here, that's cool, too. I can just call Leah and tell her to shove it and it'll be done, okay?" Paul stressed, halfway standing to go grab his phone and do just that.

Urchin still had the wariness all over her face and mixed in with her scent, but it was the slow head shaking that caused Paul to sit back down in uncertainty. Damn, what a fucking douche he was! He hadn't asked her in a direct line and now he really wasn't fucking sure what she was hinting at.

"Urchin?" he tried again. "Do you want to go to Leah's this afternoon? I mean we can-" Paul had to bite his fucking lip to shut the fuck up and let the poor girl answer before he became some blubbering, excuse spouting idiot.

Her head had frozen as soon as he said her name and now that the question was out, she just as hesitantly nodded.

"Really? Because we don't have to and I can just-" If Paul didn't think it would have completely freaked out Urchin he would've sucker punched himself in the damn mouth. When the fuck had he become such a whiny assed, pansy bitch that couldn't shut up?

For once the gods must have taken pity on him, considering Urchin tried to give him a smile as she softly agreed to go out.

* * *

><p>Pulling into Uley's driveway, Paul yanked the brake hard before jumping out to help Urchin get out as well. He loved his jeep but it sure as hell wasn't a girly type of vehicle and he kinda felt bad that the door stuck and Urchin didn't have the muscle to strong arm it open.<p>

"Hey, Paul, Arial" Embry greeted as he walked to the front door and disappeared inside, his arms full of containers of food that Emily had no doubt insisted upon.

Grunting somewhat hospitably, Paul took in the yard where more than half of the wolves and their imprints still loitered about, talking and laughing happily. Leah must have just exited her house, still approaching Embry's car which held a pregnant Emily waiting for her wolf to return and help her out.

"Paul!" Quil's voice boomed, too loud and too close as Urchin plastered herself against his side in fear.

"Jesus Christ, Ateara! Mind lowering it down a little bit?" Paul spat back, allowing his arms to brace around Urchin who was trying to take cover behind his back.

"Sorry," Quil grinned sheepishly. "I just didn't think you'd get here so early."

Taking in Paul's empty hands and the cowering girl behind him, Quil's smile wilted.

"Urchin," Paul spoke quietly while giving Quil a death stare, "this is the very loud and obnoxious Quil Ateara. He won't hurt you, but don't even take anything he offers you to eat."

Snorting in amusement, Quil just shook his head. "Don't listen to him, Arial. Paul's just a sorry loser 'cause I convinced him to try a new type of vegetable."

"You said it was a new type of jalapeno," Paul growled, his mouth beginning to water from the memory of Quil's little gag. If Paul had been able to talk after eating the disastrous pepper, he'd have asked someone to cut off his tongue and then to kill Ateara.

"Easy there, killer," Quil joked, slapping a hand against Paul's forearm. Just as quickly he sidestepped Paul to look at Urchin and stick out his hand. "I'm Quil. I promise not to feed you any peppers. I save that shit for the guys.

Urchin's body didn't even have time to fully tremble once before Paul side swept Quil's feet, pushed him to the ground and took a few healthy steps away from the downed wolf with Urchin still protected behind him.

"Hey!" Leah yelled out, seeing Quil on the ground and Paul looking about to bust out of his skin. "Knock that shit off 'til Sam gets back. Then the lot of you can go out back and beat the crap out of each other."

Leaving her cousin's side just as Embry stepped back out, looking nervously between his imprint and the two wolves fifty feet away. Leah passed Embry as she went to go and retrieve the poor imprint caught between Quil and Paul while the other wolf went to stand protectively close to his pregnant wife.

"How are you doing, Arial?" Leah asked, ignoring Paul. Unlike Quil, Leah didn't need to restrain Paul as she stepped around his form to approach the girl and hold her hand out. "Come on, let's leave these morons out here. I want to take you inside and introduce you to Nadine, Jake's girl. You'll like her."

Bella didn't know what was going on. The Quil person had appeared out of nowhere and she didn't like that he had been so close. She also hadn't expected the Paul man to react the way he had and while it was a bit disturbing it was also comforting, knowing that he had felt her fear before she had.

The Leah lady, though, Bella did know. She was pretty sure it was safe to follow her and waited to see if the Paul man was okay with it.

"Go on," the Paul man told Bella in a nice voice before turning mean. "I need to explain a few things to this asshole before we come inside."

"No blood in my house, Lahote," Leah grumbled as she led Bella towards the house. As they approached the door, another large male stood in the threshold.

"Hi, Arial," he said warmly, his features relaxed.

"Yeah, yeah, introductions later, Black," Leah snapped. "Get your ass out there and make sure Paul doesn't kill Quil."

The nice looking man suddenly looked upset as he stared out into the yard. "Oh, shit. Not again. Damn, Quil never learns." Taking a step around Bella, he continued to talk, louder. "Emb, hurry up. Quil's probably going to lose his tongue for real this time if we don't break that up."

Bella felt herself being pushed into the house by Leah rather gruffly until she realized that someone else was also behind them.

"Embry, for goodness sake's, put me down," a female voice asked laughingly. As Bella slunk over to the closest available wall to get out of the way, another man came in to sit a pregnant woman down on a couch.

"There, now you're down, Em," he laughed back, kissing her on the forehead before leaving the house again.

"What's going on?" A new person asked, coming out from somewhere deeper in the house.

"Sorry, Claire, looks like your man stepped in it again with Paul," the pregnant woman offered.

"Right, well whatever," Leah interrupted, clapping her hands for attention before turning to look at Bella.

"Arial, let me introduce you to everyone. My cousin on the couch is-"

"Emily," the pregnant woman broke in to introduce herself. "The lovable giant who was carrying me is my husband, Embry."

Nodding, Bella smiled that she understood before her gaze turned to the other woman in the hallway. She blinked once, realizing that suddenly there was actually more than one woman there.

"I'm Claire," the first one announced, a pretty, dark toned lady said. She was very small like Bella although she still had a few inches of height on her.

"And I'm sure you recognize Regina," Leah offered dryly as the next woman came into the living room. Regina had her arm linked with an equally beautiful female who held an icy stare towards Bella.

"And her sidekick, Claudia," Leah continued to speak, failing to witness the way Claudia eyed Bella as she went over to the couch to sit down next to Emily.

Actually, no one seemed to see what Bella did and it frightened her. So far, all of the women had looked like they might be nice, even Regina who looked a lot more relaxed here than she had a few days ago at the restaurant.

"So would that make us the three stooges?" A soft yet sultry voice questioned as three more women filled the already crowded room.

Taking another look around her, Bella wondered if they were all models with their beautiful features and perfect bodies. It wasn't like she couldn't tell them apart with the varying heights and hair lengths, but no way did Bella belong here and she wondered why the Paul man wanted to keep her.

"If any of you are the three stooges it'd be Regina, Claudia and Denise," Leah said, pointing out the third woman to Bella.

"Hello, Arial, I'm Nadine. It's a pleasure to meet you." Stepping away from Denise, Nadine approached Bella in a fluid motion, stopping far enough away not to crowd her, yet close enough to be welcoming.

Nodding in understanding, Bella watched the last woman approach as well. This one seemed to be just as bubbly as the Claire lady had been and didn't even hesitate when she reached Bella's side to pull her into a quick hug.

"I guess that makes me last. Hi, I'm Kim," the hugger said, giving one more squeeze to Bella before stepping away. "Now that we're all introduced, Leah, I need to know what you want to do with all of Emily's stuff she brought. Embry just kinda threw it all down on the counter before he rushed out."

"Ohhh," Emily huffed in exasperation as she tried to stand up. "I'm going to kill him. He better not have tipped the salad, I told him a million times it was meant to be layered and not mixed."

"Just stay there, Emily," Nadine requested as she started back down the hallway. "We can take care of organizing the food. Goodness, you didn't have to make so much, we all brought stuff as well."

"Come on, Arial, let's go see what a mess Embry made in the kitchen," Leah suggested as she gently tugged on Bella's arm.

Not entirely uncomfortable around most of these strangers, Bella was still willing to leave the presence of that Claudia person and she happily followed Nadine, knowing Leah was right behind her.

The kitchen was proportional to the rest of the house, small yet cozy. Not knowing what she should do, Bella watched as Nadine and Leah chattered away while unwrapping dishes, placing some in the fridge leaving others on the counter. Eyeing the small dining room connected to the kitchen, she wondered where everyone would sit to eat.

"Everything's fine," Nadine yelled out suddenly, startling Bella.

"Good," Emily shouted from the other room. "At least Embry gets to live another day."

All of the girls seemed to laugh, making Bella wonder what was so funny. No way did that Emily woman think she'd be able to hurt one of the men from before, all of the guys were almost a foot taller! Pondering what the joke could be, Bella tried not to flatten herself against the wall when Claudia came into the kitchen, followed by what appeared to be everyone else.

It was Regina who actually pushed past Claudia to speak to Leah.

"We're going to head out back to sit at the picnic tables. God knows once the sun sets all the boys will be chomping at the bit to herd us weak females inside." Rolling her eyes, Regina grabbed one of the heavy dishes and passed it to Claudia then reached for another to hand to the other females as well.

"That's fine," Leah agreed as she ransacked a drawer, pulling out numerous oversized spoons and utensils. "I'm going to wait for Sam to get back. I can't believe the dork forgot to buy hamburger buns."

"I'll join you guys," Nadine offered, grabbing two cartons from the fridge of what looked like beer to Bella. "Arial, do you want to come out with us as well?"

Nadine seemed to wait very patiently as Bella cast glances at the retreating females and then back towards Leah. If she sat at the very end of the picnic table, she'd still be able to see inside of the house, making it possible to flag down Leah if she needed her. Just as she was about to agree, she watched as the Claudia person took the end seat.

Turning back to Nadine, Bella carefully shook her head no, hoping the nice woman wouldn't be upset with her.

Nadine was nothing but real smiles. "Okay. But if you change your mind, come on out."

Happy to have avoided a disaster, Bella sighed in relief before turning her attention back to her friend, Leah. She probably wasn't really her friend, but Leah had been very nice to her and she hoped she could return the favor some way to show her appreciation.

"Leah?" A male questioned, making Bella freeze once again in her stationary wall position. The voice was quickly identified as belonging to the Jake guy as his massive form entered the area.

"Most of the guys headed around the house to out back and Paul wants Ar…OH!" The Jake's man face swung from a slightly scowling Leah to a terrified looking Bella.

"Just the person I was looking for, Arial," he said, smiling brightly. "Paul was hoping you'd come into the living room and-"

"Urchin?" The Paul man bellowed from the front of the house, making Bella wonder if she was in some kind of trouble. He appeared directly behind the Jake person and pushed him out of the way to get to her. "Are you okay?" He asked in a very quiet voice as his arm slipped around her.

"She was," Leah snapped, glaring at him. "Until you screamed for her loud enough for half of La Push to wonder what the hell is going on."

"Oh look," Jake said in an over chipper tone. "Nadine looks like she needs me for something. I'll just be-"

"Get over it, Clearwater," he snapped right back, ignoring whatever the Jake man had been trying to say as he tugged on Bella for her to follow him.

"Black, don't fucking forget what we talked about. I want to do this shit now!" The Paul man directed, his harsh voice belying the gentleness of his hands on Bella's shoulders.

She didn't have long to wonder what was going. As soon as she and the Paul man were in the living room, he sat down in a single chair and pulled her into his lap, whispering in her ear.

"Listen, Urchin, I know people creep you out and I don't want you more uncomfortable than need be, so I'm gonna ask the guys to come in here one by one to introduce themselves to you, okay?"

It really wasn't okay as far as Bella was concerned, although, she appreciated the Paul man's effort to make sure she didn't have to meet these strangers alone. Her tense muscles must have told Paul all that he needed to know.

"Urchin, I know this is hard for you, but these guys are almost always around and I want you to feel somewhat comfortable in their presence. You don't have to shake their hands or any of that shit. Just let them tell you who they are so if you were to ever see them when I'm not around, you'll know they're okay and aren't gonna try any shit with you."

Bella really wanted to try for her Paul man, but this…this was asking a lot. She was pretty sure that whether either of them wanted her to or not, she was going to panic and end up embarrassing, or worse, angering him. She didn't have any more time to worry about it as someone came into the living room.

"Arial? Hi, my name's Seth, Seth Clearwater. I'm Leah's brother-"

"-Incredibly sweet but younger, retarded brother," Leah hollered from the kitchen.

"-and Claudia is my girlfriend. She's great! I bet you guys will be really good friends. She's going to college in Port Angeles. We live here on the Rez, although it's on the other side. Well, technically I still live at home but I spend most of my time with Claudia at her place. You can walk there from Paul's house, it's not far, but probably not a good idea this time of year since it's so cold. Do you have a cell? I can give you both of our numbers and then if you need us, you can text-"

"—Shut the fuck up, already," Paul cut in, causing the Seth guy to stop talking instantly. "For fuck's sake, I said to introduce yourself, not give your damn autobiography in one breath."

Bella wasn't sure if she had ever heard someone say that much in such a short amount of time, though she had tuned him out a bit once he had mentioned Claudia's name. Still, despite his hulking figure, he didn't give off any bad vibes and while she'd still be hesitant, Bella felt like she could probably handle being around this Seth person.

Seth was still grinning as he stood against the opposite wall and another male came in. Collin was his name and he was just as talkative as Seth was, even more so when Seth chimed in to add additional information Bella had no idea what to do with. Despite being wary around strange men, she was too shocked at their easy going banter to notice that she should be scared and relaxed even further when Brady came in next.

Her apprehension snapped back like a rubber band when the front door opened unexpectedly and that scary Sam man walked in with several bags of groceries, disrupting the smoothness of conversation. Only the Paul man noticed, one of his hands reaching up to rub the back of her neck as Leah made a sudden appearance.

"Sammy!" she squealed excitedly. "You're back and just in time! I think Quil is rigging the grill for something to happen and Jake and Embry are too busy laughing to stop whatever it is."

Any scariness the Sam man had vanished as his features softened and he smiled happily in the presence of Leah.

"Hello, my beautiful, Lee-Lee." Dropping the bags, he held out his arms to let Leah jump into them, both of them hugging affectionately as if they hadn't seen each other in a long time.

Dropping her eyes, Bella tried not to smile at the emotional bliss they seemed to have for each other. She had watched many people greet and hug or say they loved each other, but in comparison to what was happening, it almost seemed to be a lie. Bella may not have experienced love, however, there was no doubt that her friend Leah and this Sam man did so.

"You did good, Urchin," the Paul man whispered, his chin resting on her shoulder. "I'll introduce you to the others when we go out back, okay?"

Nodding in agreement, she tried to remember the peacefulness when the Sam man came back into the room and sat across from them.

"Hello, Arial," he greeted her in a deep, controlled voice. "It's nice to finally meet you properly. I'm Sam, Leah's man."

"Yes, you are," Leah piped up from the doorway, grinning. "Come on, Arial. Let's leave these dweebs by themselves while you help me finish some stuff up in the kitchen."

The gently squeeze from her Paul man, told Bella that it was okay if she wanted to go. With help, she slid off of his lap to follow Leah, unconsciously making a wide berth of any of the guys in the room.

Leah was tossing stuff out of the bag when Bella entered. "Finally! Now we can light up the grill and hopefully eat soon. I'm starving," Leah exclaimed as she bustled about to put stuff where it belonged.

Bella was only vaguely aware when Collin and Brady came in to grab drinks from the fridge. They moved into the dining room but didn't leave completely and Bella's apprehension rose in an unwelcomed feeling.

"Samuel L. Uley. What the fuck is this?" Leah screamed loud enough for even the people out in the back yard to look towards the house.

"Now what, Leah?" He asked tiredly as he appeared in the kitchen.

"This!"

A small box was suddenly airborne as Leah threw it full force at her boyfriend, the large man easily catching it.

"What?" he asked in confusion, barely looking at the box as he stared at Leah.

"I know you think you have a monstrous penis and all, but my twat is not some mile wide trench needing to be plugged up with super absorbency tampons because you think you've stretched it that big!"

Whatever gentleness Bella thought she had seen in Sam vanished as his face contorted into anger. He made some weird, possibly a growling noise and began to yell on his own.

"Goddamn it, Leah! I'm not a girl, I don't know these things," he yelled as Seth and Paul filled the space behind him. "And you have some mouth on you to just yell that shit out while we have guests."

The weird sound he had made before started again as he took a step towards Leah and Bella panicked. This was it. He was going to hurt her friend and while Leah should know better than to anger such a large man, Bella was not about to let him hurt her.

Dashing around him, she stood in front of Leah and held her arms out, waving them like one would to attract the attention of an attacking wild animal. The movement worked more than Bella could have hoped for and when those blistering eyes of the Sam man met hers, Bella faltered.

She held her ground for as long as she could, but the rage on his face was more than her conscious could handle. He took another step and the scary noise increased. The last thing Bella remembered before she passed out was the sound of her own pitiful 'eep' and then nothing.

* * *

><p>Like the other guys, Paul had been highly amused as Leah delivered one of her stellar explosions. She'd scream at Sam, he'd yell back at her and by the second or third slap, Sam would grab her hands and then kiss her into passiveness which was when the betting would occur.<p>

Most of the time, Leah would mellow back out with just a few errant grumblings about whatever offense had taken place. On the more amusing occasions, Sam would think he had won the 'battle' and after receiving a doe eyed look from Leah, he'd relax his grip on her hands. Leah, ever the opportunist would either knee him or yank hard on his junk, telling Sam he'd better learn or else, and then walk away.

He watched in transfixion as his little urchin stepped in at the last minute. Nobody got between Sam and Leah during these times and Paul didn't even know how to react when Urchin did. If the situation hadn't occurred as quickly as it did, he might have been prepared to tell her no or to haul his ass in gear and step beside her. It was that god awful eeping noise that sent him moving.

Paul caught his Urchin before she hit the ground and because he was still positioned between one very pissed off Alpha at his imprint, he equally hauled ass back out of the way and back into the empty living room.

"Now look at what you did, you demented dork!" Leah continued to yell at Sam. "My mouth may shock the shit out of people, but I've never had one pass out from it, unlike you who-"

Either he blocked the sound out or Sam had reached his own limit as Paul could no longer hear what else was going on. He touched his hand to Urchin's throat, feeling her rapid pulse rate begin to slow down as her adrenaline surge left.

Jesus, what the hell had she been thinking, trying to stand up to Sam like that? It's not like the guy would've hurt her, you just didn't get in the way of a wolf fighting with his imprint. If Paul had half a brain, he'd take Urchin home right the fuck now, post some 'Trespassers Will Be Fucking Eaten Alive' signs on his house and just hole up for the next week.

His inner wolf seemed to like that plan, too, images of his couch/pseudo-wolf-den flashing big and bright. Paul knew, though, that Urchin had acted because she had been worried. For Leah, of all people which was beyond ridiculous considering more of the wolves asked Sam if he was alright after one of their fights than they or the imprints did of Leah.

"You pick some strange ass people as friends, Urchin," Paul finally muttered, moving his hand from her throat to brush softly at her temple.

"Pssst," Jake hissed from the hallway, peeking into the room when Paul's eyes snapped up and away from Urchin. "Is she okay? Do you need anything?"

"Aside from an Alpha pairing that has more common sense than the two currently in that position have, no, I'm fine."

Jake bobbed his head to the still prone figure. "What about Arial? She probably needs a cool rag and glass of water, hmm?"

Paul's own heart rate started to increase as he thought about his Urchin's situation. She could go either way once she woke up. Either she'd be okay or she'd go zombie and then what the fuck was he supposed to do?

"I don't know," Paul answered hesitantly and fucking pissed off that he sounded like such a pansy bitch. "See if Leah has any juice instead and no rag. Urchin freaks sometimes with water."

Nodding quickly, Jake disappeared back down the hallway. Paul heard the guys whispering and then it sounded like everyone went back outside, probably to explain to the rest of the asshats what was going on.

Not long and Jake came back, minus juice. "Leah gave the last bottle of juice she had to Emily since the girls are drinking and Emily can't. I grabbed a soda, though."

"Fine," Paul grumbled, grabbing the can to set on a nearby table. He went back to staring silently at Urchin, realizing that Jake had yet to leave the room.

"What?" Paul hissed, refusing to look up again and subsequently encourage the moron to stay and chat.

"I..uhh…sorry. Nothing. I'll be outside if you need us," Jake stammered, turning to make a hasty exit.

"Thank fucking god," Paul half heartedly cursed as silence enveloped the house and Urchin began to stir awake.


	23. Chapter 22

A/N: Kudos to my beta, ShadowPast620. Wolfy hugs and kisses to those who have reviewed. :)

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><p>Reaching next to her to get Seth's attention, Claudia whispered, "I'll be right back. Excuse me."<p>

Her hand hadn't even left Seth's thigh before his own clamped it in place.

"I'm sorry, Dia. Could you maybe wait a little bit? I'm sure Paul will be out shortly and then you can go inside. Are you cold? I can grab a blanket out of our trunk or if you really want, I can run back home and grab you a jacket?"

Internally recoiling, Claudia tried not to scream in frustration. This was just crazy, one girl needing so much care and space. Being an imprint meant there was no solitude or secrets and Arial needed to learn that fact quickly.

Shifting her features, she tried to smile like she meant it. "No, that's okay, Seth. I'm not cold."

"How's the grill going, baby?" Nadine called out from down the table to where several of the wolves were standing and conversing.

Most of the imprints chuckled in amusement, Claire in particular cracking up when Quil turned to give her hand motions that either meant the guys needed some more time or everyone was probably going to die of food poisoning.

"Thank goodness I made several casseroles," Emily offered, before turning to address Claudia directly. "I also found a new recipe for a tofu salad that I made."

"Thanks, Emily," Claudia said sincerely. "I also made some animal product-free cookies that I think you'll like. All of that processed crap found in most foods can't be good for the baby."

Both Seth and Embry tried not to blanch at that statement. Embry was forever trying to make sure Emily stayed as healthy as an Olympian and Seth knew that while Claudia meant well, a vegan lifestyle was not for everyone.

"Her baby will be just fine," Kim piped up, absently leaning past Embry to rub Emily's protruding stomach. It was a handsy fight as her smaller one tried to battle over the space Embry's larger one occupied and both chuckled in amusement while Emily rolled her eyes good naturedly.

"What did Paul bring this time?" Denise asked unexpectedly, curious to know just how much of an affect the imprint had on him.

"Paul didn't bring any dishes with him," Nadine volunteered. "He's all thumbs in the kitchen."

Most of the pack knew this and that instead, it was Paul who usually gave the party giver enough cash to cover for the meat used. It was just about as fair as one could get, considering otherwise not only would each couple have to bring a few side dishes but also contribute to the day's grocery bill.

"What, is Arial too good to cook?" Claudia leaned over to whisper at Regina.

"Let it go, Dia," she answered back, trying not to laugh at the silent charades Claire was playing with Quil. "Paul's always done that and I'm pretty sure our stomachs are grateful for that fact."

Leah watched the grill as Brady talked animatedly about fires and Jake argued with Jared about temperature. Her own wolf, Sam, stood off to the side as if lost in thought.

"Hey," Leah said, interrupting Sam's trance as she walked over to where he was. "I'd like to make a suggestion, if it's okay?"

Chuckling lightly, Sam looked at his girl. "Hopefully not about future feminine products?"

"No, actually it's about Arial." As Sam's look started to worry, Leah hastened to clarify, "Not about earlier. About when Paul goes back to work."

"Shoot," Sam replied, still not fully relaxing as he snapped his fingers at Jared, then pointed first to the plate of burger patties and then the grill.

"Well, I think Arial would benefit by spending the day with us girls. Not as a group, but individually. Otherwise she's going to be stuck at a house all day by herself and I'd be willing to bet that even if she had a vehicle, she can't drive."

Turning away from the grill, Sam stared dumbfounded at Leah. He had privately been wondering how and when he could approach Paul about having the guys randomly check on Arial throughout the day and here was his girl, dropping the perfect plan into his lap.

"Certainly not all the imprints have to agree to do this, just the ones who want to and only on the days they can. I know Nadine has meetings and only a few days where Arial could be with her and Embry might not want her around Emily, but this way she can learn to be more comfortable around us."

Sam's arms wrapped around his girl tightly as he drew her close and picked her up to hug. "That is a very good idea. I'll talk to the others about it first if you'll talk to the girls and then if some or all are in agreement, I'll approach Paul."

"Great!" Leah said happily, hugging back and then trying to untangle herself from Sam. "Now get your shit together and cook us food."

Booming laughter filled the yard as he set Leah down, lightly smacking her rump as she turned to saunter back to the picnic tables.

"Quil!" Sam snapped while still laughing. "Stop making bunny eared sex positions with Claire and go lug over the cooler from on the back porch."

_This_, Sam thought as he joined in to continue the grill temperature argument with Jake and Jared, _was one of the best perks of being a wolf. Family and friends coming together to laugh, share and have fun._

_If only our brother Paul and his girl can join in this experience._

* * *

><p>The wolves were the first to hear when Sam's back door opened and the remaining two people came outside. Paul was extremely grateful that Leah had saved a spot on the very end of a table and without a word to anyone he steered Urchin towards it.<p>

Nadine and Kim wisely kept the chatter going and attentions diverted so that Paul could casually grab some grub and pretend like nothing had happened while he ate three plates of food and Urchin barely touched her one and only.

When the last rays of sunlight vanished below the horizon, the wolves ushered their imprints back into the house. The weather wasn't abnormally cold, but that was the excuse given for the girls to roll their eyes and leave them alone for a little bit.

"Sam," Paul growled lowly, hating what was expected of him. "Is this really fucking necessary? Have Leah stand in for me or just assume I'm last and leave it at that."

"Arial will be fine for ten minutes with the girls, Paul," Sam replied authoritatively. "Get your ass in gear and get ready."

"Come on, Urchin, let me take you inside, okay?" He whispered as most of the other imprints headed inside, Embry being the only other wolf to physically walk his girl in.

Silently they walked past the group loitering in the kitchen/dining room area and went to the dimly lit living room where Urchin dutifully sat down and looked up as Paul handed her back the plate of uneaten food.

"I know you haven't eaten much and if you're full, that's fine, but I also know you probably wouldn't ask even if you did want more."

Urchin's hesitancy made Paul's skin crawl in a real bad shitty way. Ever since she had woken up after the fainting, her emotions had been all over the grid, keeping Paul and his wolf on their toes and he still wasn't sure if he should just yank her back up, leave and take her back home to their couch.

"Come on, Paul," Embry called from the back of the house. "Sam's about three seconds away from sending out a Quil search party for us. The sooner we get out there, the sooner we get to come back."

"I gotta go, Urchin, but I'm right fucking outside if you need me, okay?" Paul pleaded uncharacteristically. "Or Leah's just down the hall. Do you want me to ask her to come in here with you?"

As Urchin shook her head no, Paul wondered what the flash of sadness on her face was about. He didn't have time to play twenty questions with her and now wasn't exactly the right fucking place to do so. Before he could turn all emo whiney in public, he gave her a quick kiss to the temple and strode outside to join his brothers.

"Alright, guys, settle down," Sam's voice boomed across the backyard, addressing his brothers as the back door firmly shut in place to indicate the boys were left alone.

"Remind me again why we do this?" Embry asked slightly bored.

"Because it's tradition, you pansy," Quil offered helpfully, most of the wolves chuckling in agreement.

"Some tradition," Paul remarked snidely, hoping to avoid it all together. "Can't I get a pass, Alpha obi wan? I need to be there for my girl, she doesn't like you hulking losers very well."

Collin spoke up. "How the hell would any of us know? You go feral when we get near her and are snarky as fuck to the girls who have tried to do the same."

"You want to make something of it, Collin?" Paul snapped, striding forward to put the asshole in his place.

"No. I want you to stop being a dick and hiding behind her skirt just cause you fucking don't like something."

Everyone went silent. Collin wasn't normally like this, although Brady was thinking that he had probably had a conversation with Denise similar to his with Regina. The girls thought Paul was too protective of Arial and that she was milking her nervous behavior for all it was worth.

"I'll make sure the _only _thing you need to wear is a fucking skirt, you bastard," Paul growled as he lunged for Collin.

"Enough!" Sam bellowed, stepping in to push the two guys away from each other. "No one is getting out of anything, Paul included," Sam stated to the group before swinging around to face Collin directly.

"Collin, I get that you're upset, but we need to move carefully concerning Paul's imprint. Eventually she'll come around and be more accepting of us. For now, though, we don't need to inundate her with a bunch of strangers. Even most of our own imprints were leery in the beginning."

"That's right, Littlesea. Keep your shit to yourself unless you want me to physically remove it from you," Paul snarled, still ready to make good on his threat.

Even if he wanted to, their Alpha stepped in to give Paul his fair share of advice as well.

"Paul, you need to stop taking offense to every little thing said. Collin wasn't trying to insult your girl; our wolves are pulling for a fully united pack and that includes the imprints. Things will even out once we tell her."

"It's barely been a week!" Paul argued in shock

"A week is a long time to hold back the type of relationship you two will hopefully share in the future," Sam explained, raising his hand for Paul to shut up when his mouth widened to yell. "Yes, her circumstances are different than most and everyone is being as patient as possible. You have to agree, though, she is starting to feel the pull as well and it serves all interests to explain the why."

Sam's eyes held more than a command as Paul glared into them. He wasn't being forced to share the furry details of his life just yet, but Urchin needed a fair shot at the exposure to the life she could have if she was willing to accept it.

Paul didn't want to let the subject drop and his fingers flexed, itching to just tear the shit out of Littlesea…probably Fuller as well, considering those two were eyeing each other like long lost fuck buddies.

"Whatever," Paul huffed, pushing Sam away and taking a few steps away from the group before he had second thoughts and went at it.

Sam waited a few more minutes before continuing. "Now that that is out of the way…Jared do you have the bag?"

Stepping forward, Jared handed a large cloth bag to his Alpha, stepping back to allow room for the rest of the men to huddle closer.

"Okay, you know the drill. There are nine jelly beans in here. First wolf to draw the red one gets the honors." Sticking his hand inside the bag, Sam smirked when a shiny black jelly bean appeared. Wordlessly he passed it to Embry.

Another black bean was pulled out and the bag continued to make the round between shifters, each one sighing happily when a black jelly bean appeared. Paul, Brady and Seth were left as the last three, Seth stepping forward to take his turn.

"Oh thank god," he breathed when he, too, brought forth a black one. "Claudia will be happy about this."

Brady laughed as he took the bag from Seth's hand. "I bet she will. Regina wouldn't talk to me for a week the last time I was honored. She said the next time I got stuck…oh shit. I got the red one again?"

"Tough luck, pup," Paul smirked as he grabbed the bag to show his brothers the last black jelly bean. Popping it in his mouth, he didn't even bother to chew the candy.

"I am so sorry, Brady," Sam spoke gravely, stepping up to clasp his brother on the shoulder. "The good news is, Paul will probably be too busy with his girl to over torture the shit out of you this year."

The pack erupted in boisterous laughter. Even imprinted, the wolf was still Paul. He might show a different side to his imprint, but the guys weren't as fortunate.

"Okay, guys, six o'clock, two Saturdays from today, here at my house."

Most of the guys went back into the house to break the news to the girls, Brady still standing in a remorseful stance with a comforting Seth at his side, offering to act as a mediator when Regina was told. There wasn't any point to it when the imprint in question came out the back door, running towards her wolf with a look of feigned meanness.

"How could you lose again, Brady?" she yelled, Claudia and Denise laughing quietly from the porch as Paul let them pass before making his way through the door.

In the house, he wondered what his urchin would make of the next group Saturday activities. She hadn't done too well today. Hopefully the others would keep it down a bit. If push came to shove, Paul would happily take her home. He enjoyed these gatherings, but her happiness was more important than that.

He found her exactly where he had left her, sitting alone on the couch and watching everyone interact. She still held a plate from their earlier dinner, more than half of the food he had piled on it still untouched.

"It's getting late, Urchin. You ready to go home?" Paul asked, watching as she scrambled to her feet in eagerness. Taking the plate, she trailed behind him closely when he threw it away and then yelled out his goodbyes for the two of them.

"Is everything okay?" he asked the subdued female once they were in the jeep. Her cooler hand sought his out and rested comfortably on top, casually stroking his fingers in reassurance.

Paul didn't know which of them had taught the other the subtle gesture. When his urchin was scared or required something, she would squeeze, the pressure somehow indicating the urgency. If she was fine, she usually grazed his hand soothingly.

Back at the house, he helped her take off her coat, hanging it in the closet while she ventured to her room and closed the door. Stripping out of his boots, Paul hastened to his own, hoping she'd come back out into the living room if she heard the TV on.

The temperature had dropped significantly over the past couple of nights, giving Paul the brilliant idea to start a fire. He could make some cocoa for her and then they could sit together and hopefully he could talk to her about earlier or if nothing else, cheer her up.

In the kitchen, he listened as she made her way out of the bedroom and into his, presumably to brush her teeth. Paul felt kind of shitty for not using some of his time off to finish the guest bathroom. He still had a week, though, and he could probably haul ass to get it done.

Those feelings were easily overwhelmed by the thoughts of her sharing his. He really did feel like a retarded dork for gaining so much pleasure in seeing her toothbrush on his sink or the shampoo he had bought her next to his in the shower. Finished with the cocoa, he set the mugs down on the closest end table, tending to the fire which slowly grew and cast the room in a warm light.

Back on the couch, he checked to make sure her blanket was nearby and easily accessible for when she started to doze. The object of his affection finally made her appearance, dashing across the living room to pull at his hand in a needing fashion.

"What? What's wrong?" Paul asked, standing up and intending to take point. Anything remotely resembling comfort vanished as his urchin continued to pull at his hand, leading him out of the room and down the hall.

"Did something happen? Are you hurt?" he asked, trying to both keep a level head and also figure out where the hell her urgency was coming from.

Inhaling deeply, nothing smelled out of place to Paul. There were no scents of blood or injury and no one was here nor had been here while they were gone. She didn't take him into any of the rooms, but still held a death grip on his hand while staring back at the way they had come.

"Urchin, I don't understand. Do you need me to do something?"

For the next fifteen minutes Paul tried to ask every question he could think of, not understanding what had happened or what was going on. She didn't want to go into any of the rooms. She wasn't hurt, tired, hungry or sleepy, although, Paul could almost smell her tiredness.

In desperation, she stepped closer, her right hand tightly gripping his left and her body pressed against his. Paul nearly buckled over when she took her left arm to wrap around him in a type of hug.

"Do you want me to…can I pick you up?" Paul asked, wanting to continue to hold her. Fuck, if she wanted to fucking cuddle against him in a hallway he could work with that.

As soon as he asked, his urchin was practically climbing up his body like he was a fence. With his right arm around her back he lowered it to catch her and lift up effortlessly, her legs tightening around his waist to hold on.

"Shit, Urchin," Paul breathed out in awe of her closeness. "What has you so upset?"

It was the manly, gentlemanly thing to ask, Paul reminded himself while he internally gloated at her willingness to hug him freely. Whatever her current concern was, it wasn't like she was gonna just blurt that shit out.

_Although, that'd be pretty fucking awesome, too, if she did._

"Let's go back to the living room. I made you some cocoa. You don't have to drink it, but we can be more comfortable there, okay?"

Her head shaking scared him more than he had been.

"You don't want to go in the living room? Are you scared of it now?" Turning around so her back was to it, Paul tried to understand why she was freaking out like this. She hadn't been afraid of it before and now…

"Did the fire scare you?" he asked, feeling like a dolt for not realizing it earlier. The tiniest motion of a nod confirmed his dumbness.

"Damn, Urchin, it wasn't supposed to scare you," Paul whispered into the crook of her neck, his voice muffled. "I thought you'd like the heat it provided."

Her already barnacle tight grip tightened even more and Paul knew that she'd already made up her mind, but that he should try anyway.

"Would you at least try? Let me carry you back in there and you can sit in my lap. I promise, you don't have to go near it or anything and if after a few minutes, you're still this upset, you can come back here while I put it out, okay?"

It felt like an hour had passed before she finally agreed and Paul was disappointed that he had managed to unintentionally scare the shit out of her. He still couldn't help but feel a little bit giddy that she had agreed to try and by doing so, sitting directly in his lap.

It was somewhat awkward at first, his urchin alternating between twisting to stare at the fire and then turning back around to huddle, Paul's arms protectively around her at all times.

"Do you want some cocoa now?" he asked after about the fiftieth time she had swung around to look at the flames before facing him again.

Slowly nodding yes, Paul reached over to grab a mug, hastily setting it down when the logs shifted and crackled loudly, his urchin almost unseating herself in twisting to see what was going on.

"Come on, Urchin, it's okay. Sometimes the logs move. It doesn't mean anything though. The fire is safely contained, I promise."

The cocoa idea turned out to be a bust. His girl couldn't calm herself down long enough to concentrate on the simple task of drinking. She was also getting really tired, but wouldn't let herself relax. Paul sure as hell didn't want to make any more unnecessary demands from her, not that he had to begin with, and decided to try his hand at bargaining.

"Urchin, I'm getting kind of sleepy. Would you mind if we went into my room to watch TV so I can lie down? That way if I fall asleep, you can just go back to your room whenever you want to. The TV doesn't bother me so no worries about leaving it on any of that shit."

The wolf within was not happy at all with the idea of Urchin leaving the bed once placed on it. However, without the verbal acknowledgement from him that he was okay with her leaving, they'd be sitting half awake all damn night on the couch! Paul knew she was too tired to fully grasp what he was saying when she jerkily agreed, her motions frenzied and uncoordinated.

"Okay, I'll take you in there and then come back out to bank the fire."

* * *

><p>Alone in the living room, Paul debated with the idea of extinguishing the flame. It was self contained and would put itself out. If his urchin did somehow manage to get away from him, though, she might see it and panic all over again.<p>

Sighing, he decided just to put the damn thing out, realizing as he reached the mantle that he didn't really have any way to extinguish the flames. At the beach, they used sand and sometimes water, but in a house fireplace, sudden water could crack the stones and Paul wasn't about to haul buckets of sand inside only to have to later clean the shit out.

Making sure the glass screen was firmly in place, Paul turned on the living room lights. He'd let the fire burn out naturally and if Urchin managed to sneak out of his room, she probably wouldn't even know the fire was still there, the lights camouflaging the glow from the embers.

"Okay, Urchin, I took care of it," Paul informed his girl, coming back into the room and tugging his shirt off.

Lying slightly diagonally across the mattress, Paul joined her, not even needing to prop himself up to see over his slim framed imprint. She was already dozing, her eyes closed more often than open and when the show had a sudden bang or noise she barely flinched, telling Paul she was beyond exhausted.

When she reached a deep sleep, her breaths evenly paced and shallow, he turned the TV and lights off wondering how long it would take for her to awaken and crawl out of his bed. Readjusting their positions, he straightened her out to lie beside her, her body curled next to, but not on him like he would've wished.

It was shortly after six a.m. when he woke up, feeling her stiffen and then shift away to finally leave. The soft click of her door shutting told Paul she wouldn't be back this morning and he rolled over to lie in the spot she had been occupying, her signature sweetness allowing the wolf to return to a semi-peaceful sleep.


	24. Chapter 23

Kudos to my beta, ShadowPast620. Wolfy hugs and kisses to those who have reviewed. :)

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><p>Sitting in the Clearwater's dining room, Claudia tried not to grin as she pretended to ignore her wolf's presence sitting less than three feet away, slouched in a chair with his legs sprawled out in front of his massive form as he ate a sleeve of Ritz crackers.<p>

"Seth, would you please stop?" She asked a few minutes later, the rhythmic crunching noise stopping instantly.

"Not eating, silly," she clarified, flipping through several pages of her text book. "The staring."

Swallowing his latest mouthful of crispy, buttery goodness, Seth replied, "I'm not staring, beautiful. I'm studying and observing. Artists throughout time would be blinded by jealousy if they had an opportunity to stare at someone as breathtaking as you are and then have the chance to paint or make a statue of you."

"You're distracting me, sweetie."

"Do you want me to leave?" he asked, standing up to stretch and leave should his imprint request it. "You're right; I shouldn't be disturbing you like this. It pains me to have to leave, though, since I didn't get to see you all morning on account of work and then I had to wait for you to get here and Mom and Dad to leave.

Claudia laughed freely, finally looking up from her books. "You can stay if you can stop staring. Otherwise I'm going to have to insist that I place a pillowcase over your head."

"That sounds kinky." Grabbing Claudia's hand, he tried to pull her up out of her seat. "Let's go to my room and try out the pillowcase thing. Naked."

"And as promising as that sounds, Seth, I still have seven more chapters to study before tomorrow's class." Seth didn't let go as she pulled her hand back, following the movement by leaning closer.

"We'll take turns then. One of us can read out loud while the other does things with their hands and mouth. It'll work."

"You're doing that now, Seth, and it's not working," Claudia answered, still giggling at Seth's cuteness and displays of affection.

"You're right," Seth agreed, letting go of her hand to pick her up. "We should switch our playing field and try out in the bedroom. Plenty of pillowcases in the bedroom along with sheets and plushy mattresses and a door we can close so no one accidently just stops by and sees us in our glory."

"Seth!" Claudia shrieked, her pen hitting the table before rolling off to clatter on the floor. "I'm being serious. Please, put me down."

"Sure, once we've gotten to the bedroom. I'll even let you go first." Randomly grabbing the first text book within reach, Seth proceeded to haul his laughing imprint to his room.

Once he placed her down on the dark colored comforter, Seth stepped back to peel off his shirt, still grinning and immensely enjoying his imprint's laughter.

"No, Seth, no nakedness." Stopping his movements, it was the pleading look he gave Claudia that had her modifying, "At least not until later, when I'm done. I'll even let you pick the pillowcase and who gets to go first."

Trying not to sigh at the brush off, Seth sat down at the end of the bed, still grinning. "We could still get naked to study. You don't need to wear clothes to read."

"You're right, I don't. However, me being naked causes you an incredible distraction and not in the good way."

"I promise. You get naked and I won't distract at you at all."

"For like, ten seconds. Then you'll be panting and groaning."

Seth smiled even wider at the way this negotiation was heading. "If it's too much, I'll let you pant and groan, too," he whispered, trying to slither his hand underneath Claudia's sweater.

"Please stop, sweetie," She requested, gently placing her hand on his roving fingers. "I promise we can have some alone time later on, but I really need to be prepared for this week's midterms."

Immediately retracting his hand, Seth looked contrite. "I'm sorry, Dia. Let's go back to the dining room. I'll behave and you can study. Maybe I should go on over to Paul's and see how he's doing. I was really surprised to see how fragile Arial really is. I mean, I know she's probably been through a lot, but she's safe now. I can't wait until Christmas. Hopefully by then, she'll be comfortable enough to hang out normally with us. She's good for Paul and by spending more time with the girls in the next few weeks, Arial's bound to make Paul nicer than he has been in the past. I wonder if-"

"Wait. What?" Claudia interrupted, well used to Seth's long windedness and her ability to key in on the main points only.

Grinning sheepishly, Seth helped Claudia off the bed as the two walked back to her study area. "Christmas is awesome, but Paul always looks kind of unhappy. I'm hoping that this year he won't be such a bastard to everyone and will actually smile during happy times and not just because Quil accidently electrocutes himself with holiday lights, or the house has to evacuated because Leah accidently sets the oven on fire. It'd be neat of we draw Paul as the gifting couple, though. I bet Arial would be happy with whatever they received and if she's happy, Paul won't feel the need to be rude and-"

"Not that," Claudia huffed as she resumed her earlier seat. Holding out her hand she waited until Seth handed over her book before continuing. "The part about Arial hanging out with us imprints for the next few weeks."

Moving his own chair closer to Claudia's, Seth tried not to hover as she rearranged her notes and papers. "Well, last night Sam got all of us together to talk about helping Paul by having Arial spend time with the imprints when he's at work."

"We have to spend time with her?"

"No, of course not," Seth explained, wondering why Claudia sounded defensive. "Sam and Paul, reluctantly, agreed that it's strictly voluntary. I already told Sam that you probably couldn't since you have school, but that if he wanted, I'd spend time with her on days none of the other imprints were able to."

"You wouldn't have had to offer that if you joined me at school," she pouted. The subject was a sore one between the couple. Seth could see how demanding school was and he wanted to wait until Claudia was finished before he attempted classes.

Not wanting to risk an argument, Seth pretended like he hadn't heard her. "Paul said no. Actually he said a lot of expletives before and after no, but the bottom line was he didn't think it was a good idea for a guy to be around her. Sam didn't say otherwise, and you could see he really wanted to. Paul needs to let us hang out more with her, though. You can't get over your fears if you don't face them."

Claudia was still stuck on the idea that some of the girls _wanted_ to spend additional time with Arial.

"Are you sure any of the girls agreed to spend their days with her?" She asked, trying to picture Denise and Regina's approval.

"Well, I can't say all of them agreed, but Emily and Leah, definitely. And Nadine would probably spend a day every couple of weeks with Arial; she's always saying how much more interesting it would be to have someone go with her."

"Uggh," Claudia cut in melodramatically. "That means Kim and Claire will, too, and if they agree, Dee will feel pressured and Gina would say yes just not to be the lone imprint out."

"Honey, it's okay. No one will think badly of you because you can't spend extra time with Arial. Maybe Paul will relent and we can spend a few hours every weekend with her. Or I could convince Paul to go out with me and you two can have your girl time, although I'd really like to get to know her, too. Well, we'll split it up! One weekend you guys can spend alone and the next we'll do stuff as a foursome. That could work out really good. We can slide in Arial's exposure to us wolves and then she'll feel better about the whole bunch of us."

Claudia held back before she could give herself away. She knew Seth had a soft heart and most of the time it didn't bother her when he rambled on about the misgivings of one person or another. But he obviously had yet to realize she had no interest in acquiring a new friend, imprint or not.

However, hurting her wolf directly by saying that was not something she wanted to do either. It wasn't like she had to try and be nice to the girl. As long as she made an attempt to make it look like she had spent time with Arial, she'd be admired by the others and maybe even figure out what Arial's intentions were by playing the helpless victim.

"That would nice, Seth, and maybe we can plan on doing that sometime in the future, but it won't work now. I have school and we both usually work on the weekends for our future house."

At the mention of their future home together, Seth forgot about everything else and reached over to give Claudia a hug. They had spent countless hours discussing the hazy future; Seth wanting to move in together, officially, as soon as possible and Claudia pointing out that it would be better to wait until they had some money set aside so they wouldn't have to struggle as hard as some of the other wolves did. In the end, Seth was willing to agree, especially since Claudia had promised they would eventually get married.

"You're right, you're right. We should hold back now and wait until she's better and then spend time with her…them. The holidays are coming up and we'll need to take off time for those and Emily is due sometime in February and we'll want to spend time with her and Embry. Actually, poor Embry will probably need all of us around to help distract him when Emily goes into labor. Mom says she hopes Emily doesn't have the same problem she had when she had Leah. Dad about went nuts when-"

"Seth, slow down. Yes, we need to be careful on how much time we request off and both us spending a lot of time with Lahote—although, why you'd want to is beyond me- and Arial probably isn't doable as a group effort. But, I have short days on Thursdays and don't work and could probably spend one a month with the gir—uhh!" Seth's arms were tightly wrapped around her, a bit tightly and causing Claudia to forget her train of thought.

"Thank you! I knew once you heard the plan, you'd want to help also and I didn't want to just assume and say you would, although I should have known better and told Sam then that you would. What Thursday do you want to try first? Probably not this week since you have midterms but maybe next week? Darn, I have to work, but if you guys go to lunch later, you could pick me up or even bring me lunch at work. No, that won't work either, way too many guys there and Paul would really beat the shit out of me if Arial was overwhelmed. I'm going to go call Sam right now and see if he has a schedule made. Leah would have one for sure. Okay, I'm going to go call and leave you here to study. I'll be right back," Seth said, pausing to take a deep breath before giving Claudia one more squeeze, a quick kiss and then jumped up to find his phone.

He was half way across the house before he yelled out to his stunned imprint, "What Thursday did you say? I forgot."

Claudia tried not to grumble at her wolf's enthusiasm. "I didn't say, Seth, but actually this coming Thursday is best since all of my tests will be done and I won't have any new assignments."

A soft 'yippee' followed by a slightly louder 'Shoot. I hope this Thursday isn't already taken' were Claudia's only response from the man she deeply loved.

* * *

><p>Paul's vacation passed by more quickly than he thought possible, despite the many patrols and way too fucking many Alpha chats he'd endured. He had taken some of Sam's advice to heart –grudgingly, twisted and self-serving—and had used the idea of providing consistency, setting up small schedules to make Urchin feel comfortable by officially declaring Fridays as pizza nights and Sundays as doughnut mornings.<p>

He had tried his ass off not to look like a proud fucking sissy when they drove back over to Port A to the bakery and she had painstakingly pointed out her own desire: a maple doughnut. It was such a small conquest on his urchin's part and he sure as hell couldn't brag about it to anyone. Not that it mattered. He could be singularly proud of his girl and fuck what the world thought.

It was on the drive home that last Sunday before he had to report back to work that Paul realized he still had to explain it to his girl what else his brothers had suggested and see what she wanted to do. The jeep was no fucking place to have this conversation, though. When she flipped, and there was no doubt she would, Paul wanted to be able to easily hold her and offer whatever fucking comfort he could.

Suddenly his joyous morning with his urchin felt like shit. Of all the things that could upset her and this one would be primarily of his doing. Shit, he wouldn't even be yelling or pissed off and she'd probably give him that look of mistrust and fear that melted his heart into a blob of pain.

He didn't want to be a pussy about it, but he sure as hell didn't want to ruin his last day of vacation with her either. Morning bled into afternoon and quickly into evening before he could no longer put if off and had to spit it out.

"Hey, Urchin?" Paul called from his bedroom doorway, trying to curb his antsy leg twitching. "Come on in here, I need to talk to you."

Stalking back to the bed, he plopped down, his leg starting a double fucking twitch as it bounced up and down. He was just about to punch himself in the thigh when Urchin appeared, dressed in pajamas and looking content.

Waving her over, he wondered if he'd freak Urchin out more by just grabbing her and lifting her into his lap before he started to talk. One look at her face as she voluntarily sat next to him and he was back to forgetting how to do simple shit like breathing. It wasn't until she blinked that he remembered to speak.

"So, tomorrow I have to go back to work which would mean you'll be here by yourself. However, Leah and some of the other girls asked if they could come over and take you out to keep you company," Paul explained, watching as her blank curiosity turned to panic.

"Not all together," he clarified, reaching for her hand. "Most of the others have jobs and two days a week you can go to Emily's since she isn't supposed to be on her feet much. Embry won't be there, but he's happy about the arrangement because then Emily won't be alone so much."

"And Nadine thinks it would be fun if you went with her on some of the photo expeditions she takes. She doesn't travel too far most of the time, usually just up and down the coastline, or the rainforest over in the state park."

His urchin did not look happy and Paul couldn't really blame her. It was like he was setting up fucking daycare for her or something. Clenching his teeth tightly, Paul had to remind himself that this was necessary. If Urchin was ever going to learn how to be accepted and accept the pack and imprints, she had to get individual doses of them and like it or not…he was kinda fucking forced to make her do this.

"It won't be that bad, okay? But like how Embry worries about Emily because she's pregnant and can't move very well, I worry about you and the fact that you don't speak. If you needed help or something, you wouldn't be able to use a phone."

Urchin's head dropped, almost like she was ashamed and Paul was cursing his pack mates right and left for this shit. They sure as shit might have thought they meant well, but if they were here, right fucking now and seeing the way she looked, they'd change their tune right fucking quick.

His free hand reached out to lift her chin and then stopped, dropping back uselessly to his side. Whatever she was feeling, she obviously no longer wanted to share and he had to give her that. Shit, it was the least he could fucking do after upsetting her like this.

"Urchin, I'm not mad, okay?" He finally whispered, squeezing her hand in hopes of a returned response.

There wasn't any sign that she looked like she was about to forgive his sorry ass and Paul tried to swallow the unexpected lump in his throat before he could croak out the bottom line.

"When you're ready to talk, you will. But until you can show me that you can, I need to make sure you're taken care of. Please don't be mad."

Paul continued to wait for her response. He wanted her to be mad or shake her head no, indicating that he was wrong so that he could explain it more or at least make her see that he meant well. Instead, she sat there resembling a whipped animal, scared that any move she made would result in further punishment.

Urchin's large gulp of air scared the shit out of Paul and he braced himself for her to start crying or yelling. The last fucking thing he expected was when she stood and tried to tug her hand away, stopping when Paul didn't immediately release his grip.

"Are you mad at me, Urchin?"

Her head shake was barely perceivable to his eyes and didn't do squat to relieve him of his goddamn nervousness.

"Are you tired?" he asked in desperation, glancing at the clock. It was barely past eight, way too fucking early for either of them to sleep.

"You don't have to leave," he…well, he was fucking begging damn it! It went against everything he had ever stood for, but there was no other way to explain his intense tone.

Urchin still stood there with her head bowed, failing to give him any type of signal. Slowly he let go of her hand, watching it drop passively to her side.

"If you want to stay in here and watch some TV, that'd be fucking awesome," Paul tried to encourage with something close to a begging tone. "But if you're really tired, you can go to sleep, too. Either in your room or…here, if you want to. It really doesn't bother me."

She stood there for so fucking long, Paul had to wonder if maybe she had really fallen asleep standing on her feet. His arms were outstretched and his ass was five inches off of the mattress when Urchin began to trudge towards the door.

She had just cleared the door when Paul called out in a hopeful voice, "Tomorrow, Leah will be here around eight to pick you up and then I'll swing by there after work, okay?"

As she left him sitting on the bed without any type of nod or shrug, Paul had to wonder just how fucking okay it would be.

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><p>Leaving his room, Bella wanted to cry. She knew people had to work to pay for stuff like food and the unnecessary amounts of clothes she wore. What she couldn't understand was why he wanted her to be with other people while he was gone. She knew how to take care of herself, had pretty much been doing so for so long that she couldn't remember a time when there had been someone else watching out for her unless she considered the demons.<p>

A sharp shiver raced down her spine at that thought. The demons had tormented and abused her, making her do things that normal people like the Paul man would hate her for. She hadn't fully realized that until coming to live here with him, where people didn't tell her to touch them or worse yet, force her hands to while they ripped her clothes.

And then he had told her she was to stay with the Leah lady, the one person she had almost thought she could be friends with. Who would want a friend that couldn't help them, though, when guys tried to hurt them? Bella had blanked out faster than she thought possible and then awoke to being cradled by her Paul man. Despite seeing Leah walking around and laughing, Bella figured that Sam person had hurt her, if not harshly at that moment then later after they had left. Tomorrow, the Leah lady would probably bring her to him to get hurt, too.

The worst part was unknowing if her Paul man knew that was going to happen. He had apologized a lot, like he had been told she'd be hurt tomorrow by the Sam man and wanted to make sure she knew he wasn't okay with it, but would take care of her afterwards….

Assuming he did come back to get her.

Crawling into her bed, Bella tried to force herself to sleep comfortably. No doubt whatever she experienced tomorrow would hurt a lot and it'd be many more nights, if any at all, before she'd get to sleep without the pain of torn and discolored skin.

There wasn't any way to tell time, but Bella knew it had to be late when she finally gave up trying to sleep. Considering the house was dark and silent, her Paul was probably asleep and Bella wanted to remember this night as being warm and comfortable even if he hurt her feelings. There wasn't an explanation of her bizarre desire to be close to him, it was instinct. Her time in the Underground had taught her to never ignore what felt right, even if it didn't make sense.

He was there, in bed and…OH! He wasn't wearing any clothes. Averting her eyes back to the ground, she didn't want to stare at him like that. Plenty of men had done that to her and she always felt dirty and vulnerable. Her Paul may never realize that she had the opportunity to stare at him like this, but she would know.

Like nights in the past, she inched her way to the bed, rounding the end of it and approaching the far side with only momentary glances at him to make sure he was still sound asleep. By the time she looked up again to begin crawling onto the bed, he had rolled over! Still asleep and his eyes were closed, but somehow he had turned over without her realizing it.

Standing there just inches away from the bed and Bella struggled with herself again. He probably moved a lot in his sleep and this was just normal, something she hadn't noticed before. What if it wasn't, though. What if he was really awake and waiting to…Bella no longer knew. He was a really big guy and probably wanted to hurt her, but didn't because she wouldn't survive.

Scoffing at that idea, she tried to think as to why he wouldn't hurt her. So far he'd been really good and protected her from the other guys. Heck, he hadn't even demanded his own payment, although, at this point, Bella knew she'd give him whatever he wanted and be happy about it. She didn't know how to label this odd…feeling? It felt like more than one feeling, though. Lots of feelings that for the first time felt promising and good.

Sadly, she gave up the struggle of trying to figure out what was the best thing to do and with one last look at the sleeping face, she left the room.

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><p>The Paul man had left early when it was still dark, but Bella had heard when his alarm went off and she had crept back to her room. She hadn't dared to crawl into his bed last night knowing he'd wake up before she did and then he'd be mad. Instead she had opted to sleep in the hallway, the thick comforter she had retrieved wrapped tightly around her.<p>

She had meant to get up once he left the house so that she could try to get some food to hide away for when her Paul man got bored of her and sent her away. Gosh, that thought hurt a lot and with the pain, she had drifted back to sleep, unaware of him checking on her several times and giving her a small kiss on the cheek.

"Hey, Arial," Leah greeted her over excitedly later that morning, startling her awake. She hadn't known anyone could get into the house, unaware that Leah had been the only person Paul had entrusted with an extra key.

She sat up quickly, still trying to process what was happening when Leah spoke again, bouncing her hands on the mattress.

"Come on, girly, we've got places to go and people to see."

Bella watched Leah as she looked around the room and then settled back on Bella's face. "I'm going to let you get dressed and while you do that, I'll make you a quick sandwich or something to eat on the way. Just whistle or something if you need me, okay?"

At her hesitant nod, Bella watched as the Leah lady smiled brightly and then left the room, leaving her to get dressed. In no time at all, she put on some of her new clothes, a bit startled to see that they had been washed and refolded. It was her sock selection that held most of her attention, however. Reverently she ran her fingers along the thick coverings, immensely ecstatic that the material was so soft and dense.

Back out in the kitchen, she found her Leah friend frowning at the toaster.

"Damn, Paul has some shitty appliances. Does it always take this long for toast?" The sudden popping noise had both girls jumping slightly, Leah laughing for no reason.

"Finally!" Grabbing the pieces she threw them on a plate and then looked at Bella. "Do you prefer ham or turkey? I know it's not traditional and next time we can make something at my house more suitable, but we need to get a move on."

Having no idea, Bella just shrugged indifference, watching as Leah placed a piece of cheese and ham between the bread and then partially wrapped it in a paper towel.

"Grab your coat and put your shoes on so we can head out, okay?" Leah asked as she followed Bella out into the hallway to do just that. Once she was prepared, Leah handed her the sandwich.

"Let's do this, Arial!" Leah exclaimed, pushing a confused Bella out the door and into the chilly morning air.

Three hours and seven stops later, Bella and Leah finally pulled into a familiar driveway.

"Geez, that took forever. I'm so glad to finally be home," Leah told Arial as she got out of the SUV and shut the door.

Cautiously Bella exited the vehicle as well, constantly looking around for a stranger or one of those really large guys to appear to take her. It was cloudy outside and slightly foggy, making the area beyond one hundred feet or so look sinister and threatening.

Once inside, Leah told Bella to relax on the couch while she made them some lunch. Moving from the chair to the couch and back to the chair, Bella remembered the last time she had been here and the angry Sam man. When Leah rejoined her sometime later with bowls of food, she tried to observe if her maybe friend was limping or stiff looking at all. She didn't have any bruises on her face, although Bella knew first hand that men often left the worst of injuries in places people wouldn't normally see.

"Arial, are you okay?" Leah asked, concerned that the girl kept staring at her oddly and wasn't really eating.

"I know it's only pasta, but if you don't like it I can get you something else. Do you want a sandwich instead?"

Shaking her head no, Bella tried to eat more while still staring at her Leah friend. When she was finally finished, Bella also sat her bowl aside and then cautiously stood up to approach the other woman.

"What's up? Do you want to watch some TV or maybe a movie? We have a ton of movies although I'm usually stuck watching some lame ass action flick because Sam doesn't like to do the chick flick thing…OH! I know. We can watch a Disney film. Have you ever seen The Little Mermaid?" Not waiting for an answer, Leah jumped up to head for a cabinet.

Upon opening it there were rows and rows of what looked like mini plastic books to Bella. Still hovering close to where her Leah friend had been sitting, she watched as the woman ran her fingers across the spines of the odd looking cases and then pulled one out, flashing the front cover of what resembled weird fish creatures in front of a castle.

"It's the original DVD. Quil spent half a day one time trying to convince everyone that the castle was a bunch of," Leah stopped talking suddenly and looked directly at Bella. "Well, he thinks the picture isn't as innocent as it's supposed to be. I swear, that perv could argue a field of flowers was something overtly graphic."

Bella had no clue what Leah was trying to tell her, but she didn't let it show. She waited until Leah had taken her seat again before doing the same, deciding not to look for any more possible injuries. If her Leah friend had been hurt, she either healed really fast or was hiding it because she didn't want to share and Bella had no room to butt in.

As soon as the movie started, Bella was one again captivated by the screen and utterly stunned when the main character's name was what these people had decided to call her: Arial. The irony only increased when the poor mermaid lost her voice and Bella couldn't help but stop to stare at her Leah friend.

"Yeah," Leah said softly, flashing a weak smile towards Bella as she hit a button to make the movie freeze. "You kind of reminded me of her, not being able to talk or, well, not wanting to. And Paul was just going to call you Urchin so I figured you deserved a prettier name from the rest of us. Are you pissed about that?" She asked candidly as if either answer Bella gave her would be acceptable.

Bella wasn't mad at all that they wanted to call her Arial. Not only did that still somewhat protect her identity for when this new life finally dissolved, but it was a really pretty name, much nicer than any of the others she had been called before. Shaking her head, Bella smiled back at Leah to show her appreciation.

"Good," Leah said before picking up the remote again, "and just so you know, if you ever want to tell me what your real name is, I won't tell anyone else if you don't want me to. Not even your ogre, Paul."

Stunned, Bella could barely concentrate on the movie, thinking about what her Leah friend had just said. Her Paul wasn't an ogre and it kind of hurt her feelings that Leah thought so. If anyone was an ogre it was that Sam man. He was really mean looking and gruff and had tried to hurt Leah! Bella knew she was missing something very obvious to this whole ordeal and she couldn't help but try and figure out what that missing something was.

As the credits started to roll, Leah stood up, announcing they needed drinks and popcorn before watching the next movie. Standing to stretch also, Bella politely nodded. Her Leah friend had already fed her lunch. She didn't want to take more food from her and hoped that a drink wouldn't be more than some plain water.

Bella's jaw dropped open when Leah came back with a bowl of popcorn big enough to sit in and two glasses of what looked like soda. Despite her resolution not to take anything else from Leah, Bella found herself sipping the large glass of liquid, a surprise look crossing her face as she pulled it away to look at her Leah friend.

"Sorry, I probably should've asked, but it didn't occur to me. Do you like Dr Pepper? Sam drank the rest of the cola and is supposed to bring some home tonight. There might be some ginger ale out back if you want me to check?"

Hastily Bella indicated no, pleased yet still surprised at the taste of this weird beverage. If she had ever tasted it before, she couldn't remember. It was good, though and she had to wonder if she was suddenly being greedy by enjoying this more than water.

By the time Leah had put in a different movie and moved back to the couch, Bella had joined her, abandoning her previous chair position so she could steal a few tiny pieces of the popcorn. Unlike with the soda, the popcorn she was careful with, taking one handful every so often and stashing some in the pockets of the coat she had yet to take off. The first handful of popcorn nearly hit the ground when the new character's name was said: Bell.

That was awfully close to Bella's name and she tried not to panic, casting her Leah friend a wary glance in hopes of her not guessing.

"It's another Disney movie, Beauty and the Beast," Leah offered before sighing happily and settling further into the cushions. "This one is my favorite. Actually most of us girls can probably relate to this film."

The pointed look Leah gave Bella only increased her anxiety and as she watched the film, it got worse. There was a growly creature in it and it was mean, scaring both the character Bell and Bella alike. What had Leah meant about relating to this? Did she know about the demons, too, and was trying to tell Bella that she needed to go back to them?

Too caught up in the idea of having to go back to the monsters and the odd similar name thing, Bella missed the growing romance taking place in the movie as she struggled to not just bolt out the front door or curl up and fade away into her fuzzy mind place where the outside world couldn't affect her. She didn't even notice when the scary Sam man came home and asked Leah to join him in the other room.

"Leah, I don't know what happened, but I think you need to turn that movie off. Whatever it is, it's scaring the hell out of Arial."

"What the hell are you talking about, Sam?" Leah asked back quietly, trying to look down the hallway into the living room. "Arial hasn't moved an inch since we started it. I think she likes it; she did okay with the Little Mermaid and even guessed that's where her nickname came from."

"Leah, listen to me. Her heart rate hasn't slowed below 140 since I've gotten home. I almost ripped the door off, thinking you guys were in trouble until I realized it was just her panicking and then thought it was because of me."

"So maybe it is because of you. I don't know, Sam, I've never heard of anyone freaking out over a Disney movie," Leah offered doubtingly.

"But she was like that before I even came inside and her heart rate didn't increase at all when I came into the living room, despite her looking right at me. It's like she didn't even see me, really. And then," Sam abruptly stopped talking, his stare towards the living room as if he were studying something.

"Jesus," he breathed out slowly, scared to admit that Arial's heart rate had increased even more, just for a few seconds before dropping back to around 140.

"Sam, now you're really freaking me out. What's wrong?" Leah demanded.

"I don't know. Something about that movie is sending her into a tailspin and every so often at odd times, her heart beat picks up even more before dropping off."

"Well, that tells me absolute shit," Leah said. "What am I supposed to do? Attach a heart monitor to her and see if I can figure out what's making her upset? And how do we even know it's the movie? It could still just be you."

"You're right, it could be just me. Go turn the movie off before—"

Another door slammed from outside and Sam inwardly cursed. "Too late," he mumbled, hoping this would go easy. "Paul's here."

Leah sprinted back down the hallway, Sam right at her heels as the front door swung wide, Paul launching through it with his eyes focused on Arial, who seemed to be in a panicky trance.

"Urchin?" he asked, dropping in front of the girl. "What's wrong? Why do you reek of fear? You're almost fucking panting." Grasping her shoulders, he trailed his hands down her arms in search of an unknown injury, noting that she was wearing her jacket.

_Were they trying to kick her out?_

"What the fuck is going on?" Paul hissed too quietly for anyone but Sam to hear when his Urchin stared right through him. This wasn't a zombie thing although it was really fucking close and not the way Paul had dreamed of finding his imprint at the end of a workday.

"I have no idea, Paul," Sam answered back. "Man, I only just got here like three minutes before you did."

"Leah?" Paul snapped louder, his head swiveling around to get the answers he needed.

The instinctual growl Sam issued from hearing Paul's tone sent the scene downhill fast. Urchin's current state of mind either nose dived or came back online as that horrific eeping sound burst out, causing Paul to immediately pick her up.

"We're leaving. You figure out what the hell happened and then fucking call me," Paul demanded as he walked outside to his jeep where Urchin seemed to wake up and snap out of her funk. He had no sooner sat her down on the seat than she was trying to get back out to go in the house, an idea that Paul thought was beyond shitty.

"Come on, Urchin, let's just leave, okay? You have no reason to go back in there and I'm sure as fuck not asking you to."

Shaking her head wildly, Bella had no intention of leaving, not again when she knew that Sam man was there alone with her Leah friend.

Paul tried to keep the aggravation out of his voice. "Urchin…let's just go. It's not healthy here for you. You're wigging out and it's kinda fucking freaking me out here."

_Talking to the fucking wind, _Paul thought as he moved aside rather than risk struggling with his imprint. As soon as her feet touched the ground, she was off with an irritated Paul shadowing her.

"Arial?" Leah questioned, opening the door before she could knock. "Are you okay? Did you forget something?"

Freezing in spot, Bella wasn't sure how she could communicate her concern. Hesitantly she peered around her Leah friend to see if the scary Sam man was there. He was, just barely a few feet behind Leah and much too close for Bella to feel comfortable.

A fraction of a second after Sam stepped further away from Leah, Paul did the same with Arial but it took a lot longer and came with a series of growls. Leah figured that they had probably dog whispered each other to get the other one to move. Turning to look over her shoulder, Sam gave Leah a smile and pointed to the backyard. She nodded her ascent and he left, Paul also disappearing around the side of the house as well.

"Come back inside, Arial," Leah encouraged, reaching out to grab her hand in encouragement.

Paul flexed his hands as he walked to the Uley's back yard. Goddamn it, but he was still thinking this was a fucking bad idea, to leave Urchin alone again with Leah. The only plus he had going for him was that if Urchin freaked again, he could take a few swings at his Alpha to help release the aggression.

"Just what the fuck is going on, Sam?" Paul asked as soon as he saw the man on the back steps. "And I sure as fuck don't appreciate you demanding that my ass come out here to have friendly crap chat. Urchin needs to go home. You guys have fucked her up enough for one day. Actually, I'm thinking you guys should just stay the fuck away from us altogether."

"You're being unreasonable, Paul. Like I said, I don't really know what is going on. As soon as I got home, Arial's heart rate was spiked; steady but high. I took Leah into the kitchen to see if she knew, but she said Arial hadn't shown any outward signs of distress."

"What the hell was going on when you did get here? Was your imprint freaked as well? Or do I need to have a one on one with Leah about shit she shouldn't push Urchin on?"

"Back up and off, Paul. We'd already agreed that this wasn't going to be entirely easy, Arial spending time with the girls one on one, but that it is necessary. You can't just go around ready to pop off everyone's head because Arial might be anxious."

"She wouldn't be upset at all if she had stayed at my place!" Paul yelled, stepping up directly into Sam's face. "She knows the house and where to get food. There's not a goddamn thing there to freak her out!"

With a careful force, Sam pushed Paul away a few feet. "And then we're right back where we started: A cloistered female who will never be able to function normally."

"Fuck normalcy, Sam. Being normal sure as shit doesn't mean your fucking heart is half a beat away from leaving your chest."

"I don't think it was anything Leah did directly, though. I think something in the movie they were watching reminded her of the past."

Paul scoffed loudly. "Please. Unless Clearwater swings both ways and popped in a porno while trying to sexually assault Urchin, nothing on the TV could've freaked her out like that."

Not for the first that evening, Sam snarled. "Could you put a damn filter on your mouth when talking about my imprint, Lahote? We both know that's not what happened and I'd thank you ever so fucking much if you could remember that."

Trying to shake himself of the feelings of just punching Paul in the mouth for his shit talk, Sam tried again. "From what I could tell, they were watching that Disney flick Leah tortures the pack to watch twice a year. Arial was certainly nervous and I couldn't see the TV, but one of the characters really upset her and would spike her fear."

"Well, no shit, Sherlock," Paul spat out, unamused at Sam's logic. "Lemme give you a hint: wolf; Seth; approaching Urchin. Sound fucking familiar to you?"

Rubbing his eyes in defeat, Sam looked directly at Paul. "You're probably right, but it's still worth a shot, right? Take the movie home with you and watch it together. That way you'll be able to tell exactly what's setting her off. If you think it's because of Seth's earlier approach, then we'll discuss explaining the imprint to Arial as soon as possible."

"Jesus Christ, Alpha! Who the fuck are you trying to kill; Urchin or me? Or both of us? One minute you want to introduce her into a normal environment and try to help her adjust to socializing and the next you want to show her our furriness? I swear, I'm about to lose my damn mind at your helter skelter approaches with this shit. I really am."

"I don't know either, Paul. I'm trying to do what's both right and for the best here concerning Arial but you said it yourself. She isn't normal."

"Fuck you, Uley. Just because she doesn't fit into your category of normalcy doesn't mean there's a damn thing wrong with her."

"Wake the hell up, Paul. All of us want you to have a nice life with the girl you imprinted on, but she is not like any of the others were and you damn well know that. None of us are mad that special steps needed to be taken when dealing with Arial, but you need to back the fuck off when mistakes happen or a wrong approach is made."

"Then stop telling me she's not normal. For fuck's sake it isn't brain surgery."

"Neither is trying out ideas we approach you with for Arial's well being. Just because it doesn't work or you think it's a bad idea doesn't mean it shouldn't be attempted. For fuck's sake," Sam snidely repeated, "it isn't brain surgery. Watch the damn movie with your girl and see what happens."

"Fine, " Paul agreed through clenched teeth as he stormed back to the house, intent on grabbing Urchin and leaving. "But for every time her heart rate spikes, I'm taking it out on your ass. Get ready for a beat down in a few days."

Paul disappeared into the house and Sam sat down heavily on the grass. He'd give the wolf a fight if that's what Paul needed, but damn how many fights would it take to get his shit together?

"Leah," Paul greeted when he walked into the living room where his urchin was…what the fuck?

Leah was sitting on the couch, both of her sweater sleeves pushed up and Urchin standing back a few feet and staring. The Alpha's imprint looked like she was about to fucking cry and Urchin's scared as shit meter went off the charts as soon as Paul had spoken.

"Is everything okay?" He asked watching Leah push her sleeves back down and Urchin stare at him with a haunted look.

Leah looked like she wanted to share, but instead an emotion of hurt crossed her face as she glanced at Arial and then back to Paul.

"Everything's fine, Paul," Leah said, clearing her throat a couple of times. "We were just saying good bye and discussing if Arial wanted to stay with me again on Friday."

Paul knew he had ten different ways of saying hell no to that shitty idea and all that it entailed. It was Urchin who answered for both of them by nodding a yes.

"So…Friday?" Paul both questioned and agreed to, looking mostly at his girl. Apparently it was a done deal, Urchin walking over to him carefully to study his face. He wanted to give her happy, but under the circumstances, blank was as good as it got.

By the time they pulled up back at his house, Urchin had calmed down and was looking around as if trying to figure out how they had gotten here.

"It's okay, Urchin," Paul offered, rubbing her hand soothingly. "We're back at home," he explained thinking that maybe she didn't recognize it in the dark.

Shrugging, she waited for him to help open the door for her, his hand seeking hers again as they walked to the front of the house and entered silently.

Paul didn't want to push his luck and bombard the shit out of her with questions, but he wondered why the fuck he was so frazzled and Urchin wasn't, considering she had been plenty upset earlier. By the time they had eaten and were lounging on the couch, he forgot most of it and concentrated on just being there with his girl. She was dead asleep by ten and it was an ecstatic Paul who quickly picked her up to take to his room and snuggle all night with.


	25. Chapter 24

A/N: Kudos to my beta, ShadowPast620. Special thanks to reader, Feekilico, for pointing out a major author-error typo last chapter.

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><p>"Urchin, hey, Urchin, wake up," a voice whispered to her, the sound getting louder as she woke up and opened her eyes.<p>

Looming over her was her Paul man, dressed and looking like he was getting ready to leave for the day. If Bella thought that was odd it nowhere near compared to the fact that she was still sleeping in his bed despite not remembering at all how she had gotten there

Fear was instantaneous.

"Sorry," he said standing up, still staying right next to the mattress. "Today is supposed to be with Emily and I need to drop you off because they only have one vehicle and Embry had to go to work. If you get dressed, I'll go fix us something for breakfast, okay?"

Yesterday's visit with the Leah lady came back to Bella, her mind wandering over and over the idea that her Leah friend hadn't been hurt by the Sam man. It didn't seem possible to Bella; his rage had come fast and hard. There was no way he hadn't hit something or more importantly someone and yet Bella had been unable to find any evidence on her Leah friend.

Not to say Bella was ready to instantly trust the Sam man, but maybe he was okay if others were present, like her Paul man or Leah? Bringing herself back to the present, Bella dropped her line of thinking. This was a live or die type of situation in her world and wasn't something that could just be rationalized in the relative safety of her current home. She'd wait until the situation arose again and see what her immediate instincts told her.

Focusing back on her Paul man's face, she noted his worried look and tried to smile for him, using one hand to grasp his and the other to rub the sleep out of her eyes.

"Are you okay, Urchin?" He waited until she nodded and then left the room whistling while Bella crawled off of the mattress to take a shower.

In the bathroom, Bella's worries came sneaking back. She hadn't heard his alarm earlier and worried that she'd get in trouble for sleeping next to him. Again, she was confused because her Paul man didn't seem to be mad at all that he had woke her up in his bed. Sure, he had told her he wanted her to sleep with him all the time, and it wasn't that she didn't believe him. It was the fact that he couldn't possibly gain anything from it. Certainly he hadn't tried to collect a payment. Why not, though?

Dressing warmly in clothes that had surprisingly been left for her on the end of his bed, Bella wanted her thoughts to go away. The idea of letting him use… Shaking her head, Bella tried to think of a different word to explain what those actions would be. She wanted to give something to him to show her appreciation and even that wasn't exactly what she was feeling either. She really was beginning to value her Paul man. She just didn't have any way of proving it.

When she walked into the kitchen, Bella couldn't help but smile as she watched her Paul make eggs and toast. He was really good at cooking and she hated that she couldn't eat more of the food to show her thanks. That, too, confused her because when she had lived in the Underground she was always able to eat what she found, unless she decided to save it for later.

While food was always a constant thought in her mind it never occurred to Bella that while staying here she had a constant source available to her and that feeling full was normal as opposed to feeling hungry.

"Here you go, Urchin," he said, setting a plate down in front of her, thankfully with only one egg and piece of bread. "You'll tell me if you're still hungry, right? I'm sorry we're kinda rushed so we'll just eat in here."

Bella smiled quickly before dropping her gaze to the plate he had left her on the counter. Using her fingers, she dragged the fried egg on to the piece of toast before attempting to wrap it up and eat it like a sandwich. She was making good progress until she hit the yolk. Thick yellow fluid coated her fingers and her Paul started to laugh.

"You're either going to have to learn to take bigger bites, Urchin, or use a fork."

_Was he mad?_ Bella looked up to see if she could tell. Using a fork was slower and he had already said they were in a hurry. She hadn't meant to upset him and quickly attempted to lick her fingers clean, surprised when a paper towel suddenly appeared in front of her.

"I take it back," he said, his voice sounding funny. "You don't ever have to use a damn utensil if you prefer to use your fingers. Shit, if I didn't have to be at work, I'd help you clean up just like that."

Confused by what he meant, Bella tried to wipe her fingers clean, her impromptu sandwich forgotten on its plate as she studied her Paul man's face. He didn't look mad, which was a relief, but she could tell he wasn't exactly happy either.

"Are you done?" he asked a few minutes later, his own breakfast nowhere to be seen. At her nod, he smiled and ushered her to the closet to grab jackets, making sure she was securely zipped before they left the house and he helped her to the jeep.

"Look, Urchin, I know yesterday was awkward at Leah's and while it might have ended well, are you sure you're okay to hang with Emily today?" He asked, pulling away from the house. "Embry won't be there and I'll be back to pick you up before he does come home."

Her hand was resting on top of his and she squeezed lightly to let him know she was okay. The name thing had vanished when the movie was turned off and no one had asked her anymore about it, so she was safe. Plus, Bella clearly remembered the Emily woman. She was going to be a mom and her smile had been sincere. Leah had talked about her a lot yesterday and Bella felt as though she might, for once, be a help and not a hindrance for someone else. She could easily assist this Emily woman with whatever she needed done. Her Paul telling her the Embry man wouldn't be there made the day even more bearable.

Once they pulled up to the Emily lady's house, her Paul man escorted her up to the door, rapped twice, opened it and ushered Bella inside with an affectionate 'See you later'. Then he was gone.

Walking directly into what appeared to be the kitchen, the Emily lady was sitting on a couch viewable from where Bella stood. For being so early in the morning, she looked wide awake.

"Arial, hi," Emily said, waving Bella to come towards her. "Come on in, have a seat and take your jacket off. Are you hungry? I didn't know if you'd have time to eat before Paul dropped you off. Sorry about that. There's cereal, muffins, bagels, you can help yourself."

Slowly approaching the room Emily was in, Bella skirted around a large chair, unconsciously looking around to make sure no one else was here before sitting down in an empty chair. Looking up, she realized Emily was still waiting for an answer and Bella shook her head to the question.

"Okay. If you want something, though, just help yourself," Emily replied, squinting to look at a nearby clock. "Hmm, it's not even six thirty. A few more minutes and then I need to get up to clean lightly."

Eagerly, Bella stood up to approach the Emily woman. She could do the cleaning and the soon to be mom could just stay seated and relaxed. Pointing to the kitchen sink, Bella tried to ask if that was where the cleaning stuff was like at her Paul's man house. The Emily woman didn't seem to understand.

"If you're thirsty, go ahead, Arial. The glasses are in the far cabinet," Emily explained pointing in a different direction.

Deciding it would take too long for the Emily woman to guess at what she was trying to tell her, Bella cautiously got up and walked towards the kitchen sink trying to keep her gaze fixed on the pregnant woman. When she reached it, she bent over and tried to open the door.

"No, Arial, the glasses are in a top cabinet. Not down below," Emily said, still smiling despite Bella standing there unmoving. Emily certainly had the patience of an angel and as she watched the small and frightened woman stare at her confusedly, the mom to be struggled to stand to her feet so she could help out.

The movement broke Bella out of her initial shock upon hearing the word no and she hurried to the couch, trying to indicate for the nice Emily woman to stay put.

"Really, Arial," Emily laughed, not expecting to sit on the couch all day when she had a guest. "Like I said, I need to get up and clean some before my tiredness sets in. Now don't fuss," she said, when Arial continued to motion for her to sit, "I just need to sweep, vacuum, clean the bathroom and start a load of laundry. It's not a lot."

Bella watched in horror as Emily finally stood up, went into the kitchen to pour a glass of water and then proceeded to tidy up, Bella dropping to her knees when the Emily woman tried to lean over with the dustpan. She had no idea what a pregnant woman could or couldn't do, but her Paul had talked a lot about the Embry man not wanting Emily moving around. Watching Emily bend over with her large tummy looked painful and the last thing Bella wanted was for the Embry man to learn she hadn't been willing to prevent it.

The vacuum was another story altogether. It was loud, startling Bella at first and even though it looked like all you had to do was running it over the floor, Emily moved as if there was a specific pattern to be accomplished. When Bella held her hand out to try, Emily just smiled and shook her head, waving to indicate Bella should go sit down.

The entire morning was nothing but a disaster waiting to happen as far as Bella was concerned. Every time she tried to help, Emily would shoo her away, making Bella feel like failure. And it wasn't as if Emily was mean about her actions and refusal of help, but her Paul man had said Emily needed to relax and this was not relaxing.

When Emily announced it was lunch, Bella thought she might finally be learning how to read a clock. The Emily woman timed everything, from the way she got up to switch rooms, to the way she'd instantly stop an activity to announce they had to do something else. Bella was almost scared when knitting needles left the Emily woman's hands to land in a basket, followed shortly by the balls of yarn. However, the day passed quickly, sunlight long gone by the time Bella's Paul man showed up, looking anxious and relieved at the same time.

"Hey!" He announced his presence seconds after rapping at the door like he had that morning.

At the table, both women looked up, Emily always welcoming while Bella tried to shuffle the piece of paper sitting in front of her away. "Goodness, Paul, is it that late already? Dinner is almost ready, do you guys want to stay?" Emily asked, using the table to help stand.

Bella's heart picked up pace quickly. That Embry person would be here soon and she wanted to avoid the contact, worried he'd be mad that Bella hadn't been able to help as much as she wanted to.

Paul didn't need to look at his urchin to know that probably wasn't a good idea. Nevertheless, he did look to ensure she was physically fine while politely answering Emily. "Thanks, but that's okay. I'm all grungy and just want to get home for a shower and a beer. Rain check?"

"Sure," Emily happily agreed, walking to the oven as Paul approached Urchin. She was way too fucking nervous about the paper in her hand and he almost decided to let it go.

Almost…

"What were you guys doing before I got here?"

Emily spun around, joyful at the ability to tell Paul what they had been working on. "Earlier we were trying to communicate and it didn't go very well, so I figured she's going to need to learn to write."

"Oh," Paul commented stupidly, his eyes locked on Urchin. She looked scared shitless as if she didn't want him to know. "Can I see?" He asked, holding his hand out.

Again, the wrong fucking thing to do, Urchin's trembling going from normal to spastic. Paul's hand snapped back to his side, fucking emotions all over the place as he tried to sift through them, guilt, fear, anxiety, sadness and disappointment, his girl's constant emotional flux gaining broadcasting strength.

"Forget it, Urchin. You don't have to," he offered lamely.

Stepping closer to the table, Emily continued to hold her smile, sad that the poor girl looked like she was about to cry. "Arial, do you think you could do me a favor before you leave?" Waiting until she gave a brief blink and nod, Emily continued. "Could you go look under my bed and see if I left some green yarn there? I know I said earlier that I was out, but there might be a skein hiding that I forget about."

Paul knew a diversion tactic when it was presented and he tried to act relaxed and easy going, his girl hesitantly and clumsily rising before scampering down the hall to do as asked.

"Paul," Emily said softly, "she's embarrassed. Let her come to you when she's ready."

"She doesn't need to be embarrassed, I'm not," Paul replied remorsefully. He was thankful that it was Emily initiating this conversation and not one of the other imprints. Her manner was soft spoken and never judgmental.

"I know you aren't, Paul, but did you know she has no idea at all how to read or write? Even the simple task of copying letters was painful."

"Painful how?" Paul demanded, suddenly on guard, wondering if he had misjudged Emily and the girl had used a ruler to hit Urchin's hands or some shit.

"Painful as in she tried and it was frustrating for her. Paul, if I didn't know better, I'd say this girl has never been to school. She doesn't want to show you because honestly, what she wrote could barely be called letters. More like scribbling."

"Don't push this, Emily," Paul bit out on the defense, his voice more wolf than man. "Don't make her do shit she doesn't want to. I could give a fuck less if she doesn't know how to read or write and I won't have your teacher instincts making Urchin feel like every day she spends here is a torture fest."

"Paul, no one is hurting Arial. It certainly won't kill her to learn and it's a needed life skill."

For once in her life, Emily was scared of Paul when his gaze met hers, the look more irrational than not. "I can read and write just fucking fine for the both of us. Urchin is welcome to do whatever the hell she wants, but I refuse to let any of you force this shit on her or make her feel like she's beneath us because of her previous shitty life experiences!"

"Paul, I-"

"Enough!" he barked out, the sound of Urchin's scuffling gait getting louder.

Bella didn't hear what they had been arguing about, but she could read the tension easily enough coming from both people. Her hand fluttered to the pocket encasing the paper she had hidden, self preservation saying to hand it over before someone got hurt.

"No luck?" Emily asked, trying to compose her features. She took a healthy step away from the volatile wolf, wishing Embry was home to lead Paul outside so she could calm Arial down.

Still fixed on Paul, Bella shook her head and flinched when he let out a whoosh of breath.

"Don't worry about it, Urchin. Come on, let's go home." Paul didn't make the same mistake of holding his hand out, opting instead to lightly grasp Urchin's shoulder and steer her towards the door.

Head bowed and shoulders hunched in defeat, Bella walked outside passively with her Paul, failing to see the sad goodbye wave Emily offered before shutting the door. Bella was ashamed that her day with Emily hadn't been of any benefit to the pregnant woman, worried that the Embry man would come over later to cause trouble. She was also embarrassed that she hadn't just shown her Paul man the things the Emily woman had asked her to copy on the paper.

"Fuck, fuck, fuckity fuck!" Paul kept cursing under his breath on the drive home. Urchin had plastered herself against the jeep door as far away from him as she could get. He sure as hell wasn't trying to scare her nor was he angry about anything she may have thought she did.

Shit, he was fucking tired and not because he had spent the better part of the day hauling around drywall waste, rank smelling carpet and busted doors while one of his dumbass coworkers couldn't tell the difference between right, left and his ass. The new construction project was starting out as a nasty ass cleanup project as far as Paul was concerned.

Even the drive home had been better than fine, Paul constantly thinking what a difference it made now that he had someone to come home to. Hell, he hadn't even been that worried that today's pickup would be a repeat of yesterday's, knowing Emily was the virtual mother figure and couldn't hurt a bug if her life depended on. Which, the whole pack heard about at least once a week from Embry who was assigned the daunting task of relocating a fly, spider or beetle back outside at Emily's insistence. She was the only imprint who didn't believe in the heavenly footwear approach, where one simply took the heaviest goddamn shoe and squished the fuckers into a new life.

However, he had managed to fuck up his fantasy imprint pick up six ways to hell and back, all because his dumb ass couldn't keep his curiosity in check for five fucking seconds. How many damn times did he have to remind himself to slow his shit down and realize Urchin was extremely forthcoming. If he had just stayed fucking silent, she probably would've shown him later, back at the house when they were alone.

Paul tried his damnedest not to look at his urchin, afraid she'd perceive his assholeness as anger. The entire situation was enough to drive him fucking insane. His girl wasn't like others, she didn't use guilty pouts or seething looks to make him feel worse and he damn well knew that by trying to not look, his fucktard tactic made her feel even worse and in turn, making him be even more of an ass. This feelings shit had to fucking go away or they were both going to go insane!

This was definitely all Emily's fault. What right did she have, making his girl do things that upset her? Things she couldn't do and obviously didn't want to. Paul could give one rat's ass if reading and writing were normal life skills. If his girl wanted to learn, she would, but obviously that was not the case right now. Like with anything, Urchin would get it when she was ready and if that time never came, who the fuck cared? Caveman logic or not, Paul wouldn't feel any more or any less for Urchin if she really couldn't read or write. He may have had some fairytale dream about them going to school together, but it wasn't a necessity as far as Paul was concerned.

When Paul finally pulled up at his house three minutes later, he had self imploded several times, all of the instances ending with no resolution as to how to fix this. His knuckles turned white, the clenching of fists his only way to control the chaotic mind fuck he had managed to self inflict. Per usual, he helped Urchin out of the jeep, staying silent and sullen as they entered house.

"I'm gonna go take a shower, Urchin. Go ahead and do whatever and I'll let you know when dinner's ready, okay?" Paul instructed, still not looking at her directly as he threw his keys and wallet on the table while hoping from foot to foot to take off his boots.

He wasn't looking, he wasn't looking, he wasn't…shit! Try as he might, he could still make out Urchin's defeated stance in his peripheral vision. Paul didn't know if that was a human thing or his sly ass fucking inner wolf trying to keep her in sight, but it was a done deal. Slumping his shoulders much like hers were, Paul finally turned to face her.

Dropping the boot with an audible thwack to the floor, Paul held out his arms. "Come here, Urchin," he whispered, stepping forward to embrace her, knowing she sure as shit wouldn't step forward on her own accord.

"Look, I'm real fucking sorry for whatever I did to upset you at Emily's, okay? I'm not mad at you and you sure as hell aren't in any type of fucking trouble or shit." Picking up the still unmoving female, Paul carried her over to the couch, positioning her crosswise across his lap.

"I don't want you to feel whatever this shit is. Whatever you think you did, you didn't. Or if you did, it's not something I'm mad about or you need to worry about. If Emily asks you to do something and you don't want to, all you have to do is fucking tell her no. Or if you have to do it anyways and for whatever reason can't get out of it, you can always tell me later and I'll tell her off, okay?"

Paul sat there, huddling her close to his heart and praying with every fucking thing he had that she'd relax and understand he was sincere and meant every word. She was tense, but not overly so and while that was an encouraging sign, he wished it was more.

Reminding himself over and over not to act like a porn star, Paul reached out to brush her hair away from her face. Urchin's eyes were pretty fucking much the sole tool he had to communicate with. As his fingers brushed over the top of her ear, Urchin gave a small shiver, causing Paul to freeze.

Eventually she raised her face towards him, a look of uncertainty sprinkled with shame slamming Paul right in the nuts. Any of Urchin's less than happy emotions felt like a body check strike, but her shame was the atomic bomb equivalent to all. He was fucking two hundred percent certain his heart stopped beating, gave him a huge 'fuck off, shitter' signal and left his body.

"No, no fucking way," Paul croaked, as he watched her tears form rapidly. "You have nothing to be ashamed of, Urchin. So fucking what if you don't want to show me something or think I might get mad," he improvised, "I don't care one fucking way or another, Urchin. You are welcome to keep stuff from me that you don't want to share. Hell, half the shit I'm probably better off not knowing and just need to be reminded of that now and again." Now was not the time to let his urchin know Emily had actually explained what she had been working on, although he was pretty fucking sure Urchin knew Emily had.

Bella was at a complete loss as to what to do. Emily had told her the Paul man would be happy if she could write, and with that single thought in mind, Bella had eagerly paid attention to the paper and movements Emily made to explain how it was done. Despite the constant instructions and corrections, Bella had been unable to duplicate those weird symbols and when placed against the ones Emily had done, they weren't even close in comparison.

Now, here was her Paul man telling her it didn't matter, but Bella knew better. If it wasn't important, he wouldn't have been so upset on the drive back here. She had no idea what Emily had told him, but it was probably something along the lines of not to beat her too badly and that she'd try to help Bella some more before giving up.

Bella also couldn't understand why the Paul man was telling her not to be ashamed. Emily said learning to write and read took time, but they had spent all afternoon on it and she still couldn't even write one letter properly! Nearly every instinct in Bella told her that once she showed him the paper, he would change his mind and tell her not only was he ashamed, but that she should feel more so.

Bella didn't need to see through her tears to find the scrap of paper she had hastily shoved inside earlier at Emily's. While the Paul man kept talking about how much none of it mattered, she pulled out the crumpled leaflet and held it out for him to take, her eyes dropping to stare back at her lap. She already knew how this was going to end and she couldn't stand the thought of seeing the actual disgust on his face.

His reassurances stopped suddenly, Bella still holding out the paper for him to take. She could feel the tears dripping down her cheeks into her lap and hoped he'd place her down quickly so she could go find some paper towels. There was no explanation as to why he wasn't grabbing the paper or talking anymore, even in a fake niceness, though she didn't think he could be fake. The Paul man could probably lie and hide things really well, but not be fake.

"Urchin," he finally said, causing Bella to flinch subtly, "I'll look at that if you really want me to, but don't ask me to if you really don't want that."

Still holding out her offering, Bella couldn't figure out what she was supposed to do. Was this another test, did he want to see if she was lying? Or did he really mean it and was trying to give her a way out of this mess? The other possibility was that he already knew how awful her attempts had been, and was trying to spare himself the embarrassment of having to see it firsthand.

"Okay, Urchin, here's the deal." Sighing heavily, Paul's voice continued to be even toned without any indication of anger; a fact Bella was extremely grateful for. "I'm going to sit you down beside me and then go take a shower like I said earlier. Then we'll have dinner and if you still want to show me, I'll happily look, okay? All you have to do is leave it on the table."

Before Bella could completely rationalize her options, the Paul man had set her down on the next cushion, kissed her head and left, Bella still clutching tightly to her scribbling. Even after he was gone for some minutes, she still sat there, afraid to move or hide the evidence of her failure. She felt lost and confused. He hadn't given her any choices that were easy to identify as not being a trick. In fact, if he had just told her one way or another that he did or didn't want to see it, she would've felt relieved.

When she heard the water turn off in the other room, Bella finally moved. She didn't know how to play these games and was becoming more frustrated. This was not how men were supposed to act. The men she had been forced to deal with by the demons never acted like this. The men she saw out on the streets who weren't homeless never acted like this either and the demons always posed their questions in the form of some type of test. Bella could no longer handle the thought process required to make decisions and in a fit of anger, walked over to the dining room table.

The paper in her hand was wadded into a ball and without even thinking of what may or may not occur, Bella threw it, watching as the lumpy ball rolled across the table and came to a stand still closer to the Paul man's side than hers. If he wanted to see it, he could, but Bella was not about to unroll it or offer her humiliation in thanks anymore. With one last glare, she slunk back to her room, still scared she would get punished, but relieved that whatever happened would be more welcome than the constant puzzles the Paul man gave her.

If only she could remember this thought in the days to come.

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><p>When Paul left his room to head for the kitchen, he knew Urchin was in her own room, the door mostly closed. He wanted to go back in there and hug the ever living shit out of her, tell her how much she meant to him and fuck the world and whatever it thought. Instead, he continued on to make dinner, rehashing all of the shit that had taken place and trying to figure out how the fuck he could avoid all this shit and just get to the happy times a wolf and imprint were supposed to have.<p>

The idea of leaving the pack behind and moving away with Urchin was still forefront in his mind. It just seemed like every time a new crisis happened, it was due to some interference. Urchin didn't need that shit and Paul knew he sure as fuck didn't need it either. It wouldn't be like he was some type of fucking quitter either, dropping the pack so he could live his happily fucking ever after with his girl. She didn't really fit in and he sure as shit couldn't blame her for that! Hell, Paul had never fit in either, not with the pack or the tribe or the people who called themselves Mom and Dad.

The idea began to shape and form, a way for him and Urchin to just leave and be done with all this shit. It sure as fuck wouldn't be easy or even something accomplished overnight, but with some crafty planning and rearrangement, it might just be the best thing for everyone. Especially him and Urchin.

Finally relieved to have some type of backup plan for when all the shit finally came down, Paul felt better. He whistled outrageously as he cooked dinner for him and his girl, dancing stupidly around his kitchen as he threw together…well, he wasn't quite sure what the shit was that he had decided would make up a casserole, but it was probably edible. Most likely.

"Hey, Urchin, come on! Dinner's ready," Paul hollered out as he grabbed the pan from the oven and set it on top of the stove. He left it there while pouring drinks and stacking plates and silverware to carry out to the dining room, where he deposited them in pile before going back to get the casserole.

"I think you might like this, Urchin. I can't remember what the fuck I put in it, but it smells good and we have bread you can roll it up in to eat," Paul explained, as he grabbed the aforementioned item to take back out into the living room.

Once there, he stood while opening the bag of bread and dropping four pieces on one plate and just a single piece on the other. He knew he should probably put two on Urchin's and only three on his; whatever she didn't eat would automatically disappear into Paul's stomach, but this day had been a bit taxing and Urchin probably wouldn't eat a whole hell of a lot. Realizing he forgot a serving spoon, Paul just shrugged and grabbed his own fork to serve up the dish. He heaped way more than would fit on any of his bread slices and took the extra time to make sure Urchin's wasn't as full. For whatever weird ass reasons, she seemed to prefer when her food wasn't seeping out of the sides of what she was holding.

It was when he went to sit down that Paul finally noticed the piece of paper. It was definitely the same piece of paper his girl had been clutching like a lifeline earlier, but damn! Now it looked like it had seen some rage, all misshaped and cluster-fucked. Paul was almost certain he could feel the anger that piece of paper represented and his third call for Urchin died on his lips.

In a stupor, he sat down in his chair hard, forgetting about dinner and fully engrossed with the ball of paper. He sure as fuck wasn't some psychological wanna-be retard, but he was a man; one who knew damn fucking well that this paper said: You can read me fucker, but you're a cocksucker for doing so. Do it! I double fucking dare you, asshole!

Whatever the paper had on it was not meant for his eyes. It could be the meaning of life, or winning lotto numbers or hell, even her goddamn name, but no way this side of hell was Paul about to actually fucking look at it. His Urchin may be different than most, but there came a point where all females were the same and this was definitely one of them.

Paul still sat there like a drunken idiot, staring at the dare and eventually manning up enough to poke at it with his fork. He pushed it this way and that, even stabbing the utensil directly through the center until he could regain some fucking sense and move it out of the dining room. Still stuck to the fork, he carried that waiting bomb into the living room, using just the tip of his pinkie finger to dislodge it from the fork and drop it harmlessly onto an end table. And then he stared at it again.

Every wolf and man sense he had had already told him to stop, drop and roll the fuck away without looking at it. And yet the ball of paper just sat there, harmlessly glowing in its white, shiny, papery innocence. It wasn't like Paul had forced his girl to share it with him; she had purposely left it out for him to read it. On the table next to his place. Never mind the fact that she had wadded it up inside an invisible language of female retaliation. Goddamn it, if she really didn't want him to see the fucking thing, she could have just kept it with her. Obviously she was okay with sharing, right?

Paul's hand hovered over the dreaded paper bomb, his fingers stretching outwards then snapping back quickly before they could actually touch it. Back and forth and back and forth like a demented finger worm wiggle game, he tried to reach for it, pulling back at the last possible second before he really did touch it. Fuck it all to hell and back, he had to get a fucking grip and take his lame ass whiney self away from the temptation.

Mustering up what small semblance of manhood he still had, Paul turned away and left the secret explosive relationship device on the table, untampered with and his mind still a whirling chaos of shit, but relieved in knowing he had…well, not won. God fucking knew there was no winning of these types of games, however, he had not caved in to setting off the spring. He decided that instead of calling for Urchin, it was probably better to actually go to her room and inquire politely if she would could please join him.

"Urchin?" Paul asked, lightly rapping the tips of his fingers across the wooden door. "Dinner's ready. Will you please come join me?"

The fact that she didn't immediately respond wasn't a huge concern to Paul at first. He could hear her steady breathing and heartbeat and knew she wasn't hurt or panicking. By the fifth request without a response, Paul started to frown and his inner wolf went all whiney bitch on him. Like that was fucking new or unexpected. Still, it wasn't like an imprint to continuously hold out on her wolf, or so he had been told. Paul was well versed in female snub games, despite having an unusual imprint. With his frown still firmly etched across his features, Paul eventually opened the door to peek.

As he had already known, she was fine. Curled up tightly on her bed, Urchin was fast asleep, her features even and unaware of the wolf trying to talk to her. Paul debated on whether or not to wake her. He knew she had to be hungry, but apparently she was more tired. Both food and sleep were important for her to get healthy and damned if Paul was going to wake her ass up because his wolf was crying out to feed her. He'd go back and maw down his own grub then save hers if and when she woke up later. Hell, more likely than not, she'd get up in a couple of hours and check out the fridge, where Paul planned to leave her prepared plate. She could eat it then and go back to sleep on her own schedule.

The plan was solid and Paul did just that, with the tiny exception of carrying his Urchin back to bed with him later on in the night like a beloved stuffed animal. It wasn't like she ever complained or woke up unexpectedly startled because she was in his bed. Paul never exactly forced her to sleep beside him, but fuck it all to hell if he wasn't going to gain the advantage and make it happen when he could.

Later in the evening as he made sure doors were locked, alarms set and Urchin's food ready should she want it, Paul scooped his girl up to carry back to his bed. This, right here, had to be one of his favorite times. Urchin was relaxed and unconsciously accepting of the comfort and warmth he could provide. He tried to suppress the grin when he rolled to his side, back facing his imprint and her body gravitated towards his heat. His Urchin might not be normal, but she never held a grudge and tomorrow all would be… maybe not forgotten, but definitely forgiven.


	26. Chapter 25

A/N: Kudos to my beta, ShadowPast620.

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><p>Bella awoke to the constant beeping sound she knew was Paul's alarm clock. For some strange reason, it sounded louder than normal and she tried to bury her head further into the pillow, willing the sound to shut off so that she could sleep some more. Blessedly, the sound turned off and Bella began to drift back into slumber, eeping suddenly and loudly when she felt a warm object press against her cheek.<p>

"Shh, Urchin. It's okay, you can sleep for a few more minutes. I'm gonna take a shower," her Paul man whispered affectionately.

Despite the warmth and feeling of lips across her cheek, Bella knew she had to be dreaming. She had gone to sleep before the Paul man had, and in her own bed! No way had she snuck in here to sleep close by last night; she had been really tired.

Her body automatically rolled closer the spot he had just left, the heat more than she could ignore. Before she could even distinguish the sound of running water, her eyes closed and Bella fell back asleep into the warmth left by her Paul man.

There was a small tingling bringing her back to semi consciousness. It disturbed Bella's sleep but not enough to trigger any instinctual alarms or anything that might require self-preservation. With a half-hearted swipe, her hand swept across her face. Not rough or impacting, but in a way to erase the small vibrational disturbance. Instead she met opposition.

Something large and warm had encased her hand, making Bella tug slightly before giving up and allowing her hand to rest where it was while she drifted back to sleep.

"Urchin." The name was heated and comforting, ghosting across her face like a second blanket. "Come on, little critter. I need you to wake up now. I know it's early, but it'll be the weekend soon and then we can sleep in," the voice promised her.

Bella could only smile and attempted to snuggle further into the comfortable surroundings. Sleep was a rare commodity and since she knew, could feel the field of safety around her, her eyes didn't want to open.

'I know, Urchin. I want nothing more than to crawl back in bed with you and snuggle all cozy like. But we have to get a move on. It's Wednesday and Kim is expecting you to show up soon, along with my boss who'd like my ass to be on time. Please wake up."

Something in the words troubled Bella. She didn't know of anyone named Kim or a boss. Frowning, she struggled against the weight of her eyes, finally succeeding in cracking one open enough to make out her Paul's face.

"Good morning, Urchin," he whispered, his face coming in even closer as he kissed her cheek. "I need you to get up so we can get ready to leave."

Again, the confusion bloomed within Bella's mind. She was in his bed, sleeping and he wasn't upset about it at all. The comfort and warmth erased any anxiety she might have felt otherwise, and Bella could only smile in contentment.

"That's what I love to see," her Paul man continued to whisper, his happiness matching hers. "Do you want to shower while I make breakfast?"

Bella was entirely too content and happy to think about moving to the shower. Her head moved lazily as she shook it gently, her eyelids still threatening to weld shut.

"I think you should jump in just to wake up, but I won't make you. However, I just might throw you in there anyways so you'll definitely be awake," Paul teased, his smile disappearing when Bella lurched upwards quickly. Her head nearly hit his chin as she tried to crawl out of the bed as fast as possible, all of her comfort feelings gone with the threat of a forced water incident.

If the Paul man had wanted to terrify her into submission, he had succeeded. Bella knew better than to assume all was well and that he truly didn't care one way or another if she should take a shower. It had been another test, subtle yet all together there for her to see and Bella had ignored the signs.

Before he could say anything else, Bella ran towards the washroom and shut the door, quickly turning on the shower to get under the spray before the water could even heat up. The last thing she needed right now was for him to come into the room and think she was only pretending to get clean, or worse, that he might have to submerge her by hand.

The icy water struck sharp and fast and Bella began to shiver violently, her thoughts and mind catapulting her away from the here and now and back to some past event she neither understood nor could clearly remember. There was a lot of yelling, the voices laced with surprise, anger, shock and then resignation. It was that last tenor of feelings that Bella tried to grasp ahold of, her chest hurting as the sound faded and morphed into something sinister.

Even though the water began to heat up, Bella was still stuck in her memories, someone she recognized as bad, calling her names and swearing both at her and around her before unimaginable pain bloomed throughout her body and gathered into a solid block of ice.

"Urchin, you okay in there?" the Paul man asked as he rapped his knuckles across the bathroom door. The new sound brought Bella out of her grim trance, her memories washing away faster than the water that was disappearing down the drain.

She had no idea how long she had been in the shower, but figured if he was asking such a question, it was past time for her to get out. In answer to the Paul man's question, she turned the shower off, hoping he wouldn't come in before she had a chance to put her clothes back on.

"Okay," he finally said. "We have like ten minutes before we have to absolutely leave, so make sure you give yourself enough time to eat the grub I made. I'll be out in the kitchen."

Bella waited a minute before daring to open the door, ducking her head around the crack she had allowed to make sure he really wasn't in the room before she darted across the area and hallway into her own room where she could dress in something different and then meet him in the kitchen.

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><p>Paul leaned against the counter chugging his rancid ass tasting coffee and trying not to stare impatiently at the damn clock telling him his time was running short. He had stupidly thought his urchin would forgive his sorry ass for last night's fuck up with the paper, but that sure as shit hadn't happened. All those first wake-up smiles had to have been her still partially asleep and not remembering that she was –probably correctly so—pissed off at him.<p>

Urchin's response didn't fit exactly right, though. Paul had briefly sensed her sudden fear and although he didn't want to fucking admit it, it probably had everything to do with him gleeful-fucking-dumbly toting her into his bed last night.

Honestly, he could care less. Not that his girl was pissed off, Paul cared way too fucking much about that fact to be happy. He was concerned because she had not woken up last night to eat and now here they were, about to be running late and she still hadn't come out to eat breakfast, either. Paul seriously fucking hoped Kim hadn't thrown away Jared's secret-but-everyone-knew-about-it stash of junk food. If there was one thing he knew Urchin would eat, and hoard, it was those snack sized bags of chips, crackers, cookies and whatever else made nutritionists gasp in horror and made Urchin light up like a holiday parade.

Looking at the clock again, Paul realized they only had six minutes left to lollygag. He really fucking didn't want to have to track her down, but she needed to at least hold the PB&J toast sandwich he had made. Maybe then his inner wolf would stop giving him so much shit and shut the fuck up. Slurping the last dredges of the toxic tar his coffee pot made, Paul set the cup down to hunt out his urchin. His startled ass nearly knocked the damn mug off the counter when she walked in before he could move.

Her head was bowed and it took Paul a few seconds to muzzle his inner whininess before he could actually speak normally.

"Here." Picking up her morning chow, Paul approached Urchin in hopes that she would be okay enough to actually spend the day with Kim; an imprint she had only briefly met and hadn't showed any emotion towards. Today was either going to go off without a hitch or blow the fuck up in his face.

At least Urchin didn't hesitate to grab the sandwich from him and she immediately began to eat it, easing the wolf slightly as she chewed and swallowed without complaint.

"I know you didn't eat dinner last night and while we only have time for that sandwich now, I'll make sure Kim knows you could probably go for another breakfast in a few hours."

Urchin looked up questioningly and Paul smile in reassurance. "It's okay; Kim isn't much of an early morning person either, so it won't be any inconvenience for her to make food for you later, okay?"

She nodded quickly, her gaze looking past Paul to the counter in search…fuck! He forgot to make her a cup of coffee as well. There wasn't enough time now and it made him feel even shittier for fucking forgetting to make her a to-go cup of death.

"Sorry, Urchin, I didn't make you a cup. I promise to make it up to you, but right now, we really need to jet. Are you ready?" Paul asked, watching as his girl answered by leaving the kitchen to the hallway where her shoes were.

He gave a semi sigh of resignation and joined her, grabbing a jacket, keys and his wallet as he shut and locked the front door. The ride to Kim's was eerily silent. Not that Paul expected it to be filled with incessant chattering or any of that shit. For once, he couldn't figure out if it was his own emo ass making the jeep cab feel stifling or if he was just reading too much of Urchin's emotions.

"Fuck," Paul cursed to himself as they pulled into Cameron's driveway. Paul knew Jared wasn't home, considering this had all been set up so that Urchin wouldn't freak out any more than necessary. Jared had agreed to run an early patrol and then drop by Quil's house to shower and change before going to work.

Obviously Jared had held up to his end of the deal, but Paul had also assumed that when Jared had left this morning, Kim would be awake. Or at least still up expecting Urchin's arrival. The house, however, was pitch black and not a sound could be heard.

"Come on, Urchin," Paul urged, helping her out of the jeep and slamming the door before tugging his girl towards the front of the house. Her feet were kind of dragging and Paul couldn't blame her. Out here when it still looked like nighttime, the Cameron house was kind of spooky. The downside to this was that their house was very artistic looking; a weathered cabin transformed into a type of cottage.

Paul had actually helped Jared with some of the modifications. Jared had whined for nearly a month about how Kim thought the place looked like a serial killer's dreamscape and out of sheer frustration, Paul had finally stepped in and told Jared he'd help out in making some adjustments.

Most of the work would have cost a lot to be done, but only because of the manual labor involved and not the supplies needed to accomplish the task. If there was one thing La Push had, it was plenty of manual labor. Together with Seth and Collin, Jared and Paul had constructed stone pillars to form a wraparound porch to the front of the house and an additional stone room to the back of the house.

Paul was pretty fucking sure the only reason he had followed through on helping Jared out was because it meant he was able to be his usual dickish self and no one dared to say shit about it, even Jared who would back up Paul's attitude with a look of pleading to Collin and Seth. It's for my imprint, he would mouth silently to them, ignoring Paul's snickers when the guys would roll their eyes, heave, and then continue to do as asked.

"Kim!" Paul bellowed as he pounded on their front door. "Wake up, Kimmy, I have got to go!" Paul carried on in a similar fashion for all of the forty five seconds it took Kim to stumble to the door and open it.

Blearily, she squinted at Paul then Urchin before turning her half closed stare back to Paul. "Jeez, Paul, you about gave me a heart attack. Must you be so loud?" Kim asked, covering her mouth as a yawn overcame her.

"Yes, actually, I do, considering you asked for this day and were told what hours were required. I really have to go so I can get my ass to work on time." With a slightly rude push, Paul forced Kim back into her house while pulling along an urchin as well with a much more loving and gentle grip.

"Right, so you remember Kim, huh, Urchin?" Paul asked, completely ignoring the other woman next to him as he kneeled down to be closer to Urchin's eye level. He was relieved when her gaze only faltered slightly at looking in Kim's direction then settled back to Paul where she gave a nod.

"Same shit, then, okay? Kim's gonna…do whatever it is that she does and you can help her or keep her company or watch TV all day if you want to. I'm sure she can show you the kitchen and where shit is if you get hungry or thirsty." Casting a quick glance at Kim, Paul decided to rile her up a bit. Maybe then she wouldn't look like she was ten seconds away from falling asleep again.

"And if she doesn't," Paul continued on, looking straight at his girl and pretending Kim couldn't hear, "just do your thing and go through the cabinets and fridge anyways. If it's there and you want it, you can eat it."

That was definitely all it took to wake up Kim. "Paul Lahote! You act as if I have no manners or anything," she accused him shrilly. "And like it's polite to tell a person to just rummage through their host's home. God, are you trying to make her as much of an ass as you are? Get out of here before I have to hurt you."

"Relax there, princess," Paul said, unable to hide his smirk as he stood back up. "I just needed to make sure Urchin understood she could have anything she might need."

Now that Kim did appear to be awake, Paul lowered his voice to one of a more serious tone. "Look, Urchin had a quick sandwich but she wasn't feeling too good last night and didn't have dinner so if you eat later, please feed her as well."

"Get out of here, Lahote," Kim answered, pushing his frame towards the door. "I'm not about to let her starve or withhold food if she wants it. Stop being such a wuss and leave. We'll be fine."

Kim had the door almost shut on Paul before he shoved his arm outwards to hold it open for one last reminder. "Urchin didn't get to have any coffee this morning. Don't forget to let her have some. Oh! And let her add whatever she wants, she knows how much sugar she likes."

Kim just rolled her eyes as she continued to push against the door. "I got it, Lahote. Arial is an adult. I'm sure we'll be just fine." She stayed leaning against the door until she heard Lahote's jeep start up and squeal down the driveway before she addressed Arial.

"Is he always like this, Arial?" the Kim woman asked Bella. She looked kind of upset, but not because of her and Bella wondered if all of these people her Paul had called 'friends' were mad at him.

With a small shrug, Bella tried to look like she wasn't completely sure what Kim meant. It wasn't entirely an act, though, as Bella didn't know exactly what 'this' Kim was referring to.

"Don't worry about it," Kim said, yawning again. "I'm too tired to think and Lahote always did march to a different beat. Take off your coat and come in. We can go sit in the living room."

Kim waited while Bella shrugged off her coat and then took it from her to hang on a peg. "You can either leave your shoes on or off. The floor is kind of cold, but we have rugs in the other rooms to help."

Kim tried not to gasp in shock when Bella crumbled right where she stood, hastily tearing at the laces of her boots. She really wanted to ask what was wrong, but Arial looked determined to take them off. Probably because they were extremely ugly, Kim thought sympathetically.

Eventually they made their way into the cozy living room, Kim half dropping herself onto the couch and Bella choosing a large chair, taking a long time in situating herself before finally curling up.

"I'm happy you're here with me, Arial. It gets kinda lonely sometimes, although there's always plenty of stuff I can do. Is there anything specific you want to do?"

Bella shook her head quickly. She'd just watch the Kim person do whatever and either stay quietly in the shadows, out of notice, or do what was asked of her if Kim needed helped.

"Welll," Kim drawled out with another large yawn, "just let me know if there is or you're free to do whatever you might want to. The kitchen is down that hall," Kim indicated, pointing to the hallway they had come through, "and if you want, I can show you where stuff is, but it really doesn't bother me if you just want to go through it. I was only giving Paul a hard time."

Nodding her understanding, Bella thought that was probably the better idea. She didn't want the Kim woman to feel like she needed help. Bella was more than capable of finding what she might need.

"If it's okay with you, Arial," Kim mumbled, her eyes beginning to close again, "I'm just going to sleep a little bit longer. I don't usually get up this early. Feel free to nap as well."

Bella was starting to feel sleepy again. She didn't know why, but lately it seemed every time she ate, she wanted to take a nap afterwards. Briefly she wondered if her Paul put drugs in the food he gave her then shrugged it off. Nothing ever happened to her when she slept, and her Paul seemed equally happy when she was awake and able to sit by her. If she thought about it long enough, Bella just assumed it was her growing kind of lazy. Once she went back to the Underground, that would disappear and she'd feel like her old self.

Still, Bella waited until she was sure the Kim woman was asleep before she allowed her own eyes to close. That and she wanted to make sure there really wasn't anyone else in the house; an anyone else like the man whose wallet she had tried to steal. When the only thing Bella could hear was the sound of Kim breathing, she started to relax. The chair she was sitting in wasn't the most comfortable and after awhile Bella decided to stretch out on the rugged floor. It was colder down here, nothing she hadn't experienced before, but her clothes were warm enough and Bella fell asleep quickly.

It was the ringing that woke up both girls shortly before ten in the morning. With a groan, Kim reached over the side of the couch, fumbling to locate the phone and answer it.

"Hello?" She questioned softly, her voice thick with sleep.

"What the hell is going on, Kimmy? Are you sick? Where the fuck is Urchin? Is she okay?" Paul fired off in rapid succession, not allowing Kim enough time to process a question before he asked a new one.

"What?" Kim asked, clearing her throat and sitting up to look around the now day lit house. She spotted Arial on the floor, also just waking and sitting up and Kim gave a sheepish wave before returning her attention back to the profanely irritated wolf on the phone.

"What? Did you just ask me what?" Paul seethed. "I asked you 'what' and you haven't even answered me yet. Did something happen? Why are you hesitating in your answers?"

"For the love…calm down, Paul!" Kim snapped, her usually passive nature gone. "It was really freaking early when you dropped Arial off this morning and we both decided to go back to sleep. Your phone call woke us up and I'm still trying to get my brain to function."

"As if that'll ever happen," Paul muttered meanly, his heartbeat slowing down significantly. Kim had no idea how fucking scary it was when a phone rang twelve times before someone picked up. Somewhere around five, his worry kicked in; nine and panic was in full swing; and by the eleventh ring he was swearing up a storm and ready to run home!

"Is there a particular reason you're giving me so much crap, Paul?" Kim asked snidely, still not fully awake and extremely irritated in the way he was making her.

"Yes. No. You still didn't answer me. Is Urchin okay?"

Snorting loudly, Kim debated whether she should tease Paul and make up some ridiculous story. Realizing that she had never heard Paul sound this flustered, she decided to give him a break and ease his grumpiness.

"She's fine. Now that we're both awake, we're gonna have some breakfast and then do something fun."

"Fun like what?" Paul asked, suspicion creeping up quick, fast and in too much of a fucking hurry. "Urchin didn't do so well with movies at Leah's and she can't read, so games are out, too."

"Paul, would you please relax. I have no intention of hurting Arial or making her feel uncomfortable. We'll find something to do we can both enjoy and you can relax your pointy little head and stop thinking everyone is out to make her feel bad."

"Fine! Just stop giving me shit about being concerned, alright? I don't hear you bitching when Jared calls you eight million fucking times a day to check in."

"That's because Jared doesn't call me this early in the morning," Kim retorted. "Now go back to pissing off your coworkers or actually go and do some work and leave us alone. Arial is fine and will continue to be fine."

"Fine!" Paul snapped again, really fucking tired of that word. "You just make sure it stays that way."

Kim held the phone to her ear even after she heard Paul's abrupt cut off indicating he had hung up. Shaking her head in confused wonder, she set down the handset and then turned to eye Arial. She really hoped Paul treated the poor girl with more respect than that when he spoke to her, otherwise she'd help Arial leave the monster that called himself her imprinter.

Now that they were both awake, Kim got up and turned some music on, leading Arial into her kitchen while she chatted about her everyday life and things to do once they were done with breakfast. It was a bit of a challenge in communicating with Arial; the poor girl didn't like to answer most questions. It didn't take long for Kim to realize that things moved much more quickly when Arial was presented with options and could point to what she did or didn't want.

After toasting some frozen waffles –Kim's drenched in syrup and Bella's only smeared with a banana shoved on top and then folded to make a weird looking sandwich—Kim took Arial out back to a shed, showing her the area she was attempting to convert into a work place.

"Ta-da!" Kim exclaimed happily as the two women stood within the damp work area. "My mom taught me how to make lotions and soaps using only natural ingredients. I make them for a lot of the locals and during the summer months we go out to Port Angeles every other weekend to sell them at a farmer's market."

Bella looked around the area carefully, noticing the shelves filled with rows and rows of bottles and baskets of dead looking flowers and leaves. There was also a scary looking table that held huge pots and Bella tried to ignore the dread she felt when looking at it.

"But then," Kim said, still excited and unaware her guest hadn't been paying attention, "Regina said I should sell them online, too. She helped me set up a website and Nadine took some beautiful pictures that could be used as the backdrop. I didn't know what to do with them, but Regina did something to them so that you could click on certain pictures for different products. It's really pretty and I think the waterfall picture is my favorite. That's what you click on to get to the soaps and shampoos."

Bella continued to nod and attempt to smile like she was just as excited as the Kim woman was. All of it sounded like a lot of work and Bella didn't know how she'd be able to help with any of it. She really hoped Kim wouldn't ask her to do something with those scary pots.

"So that's what I do most of the day. Jared gets off early on Mondays and Thursdays and if we get any online orders, we mail them out on those days," Kim continued to ramble.

Bella was okay with the constant flow of words. After awhile it became a form of pleasant background noise, allowing Bella to relax and feel more comfortable around her. She followed Kim back out of the shed and to the house, only picking up certain words; something about seasonal flowers and strategies.

"Leah teased me forever about the name I finally decided to use, but I thought it was endearing and Jared even blushed and stammered when I told him," Kim said, closing the back door as they walked into the house. Bella continued to follow Kim to another room where a table had piles of papers and markers on it.

"It's not fancy but it makes its point." Grabbing a large brightly colored sheet of paper, Kim held it up for Bella's inspection. "The product line is called JK Designs," she said, pointing to each carefully drawn symbol. "And I think it's enough on its own, just the words, but Nadine said I needed a logo."

Sighing dejectedly, Kim dropped the design and sat down at the table, pulling out the chair next to her and indicating Bella should sit as well.

"I have spent the last month and a half scribbling out pictures, but I don't really like any of them and none of them look good with the JK script. Tell me what you think," Kim asked as she grabbed several notebooks, pushing them towards Bella with a look of hopefulness.

With trembling fingers, Bella peeled open the cover of the first book, scanning each picture as she turned the pages. Odd looking animals and plants decorated each one, some drawn in pencil or pen, others in markers. None of them were bad and Bella wasn't sure what she was supposed to do. Closing it she looked up hesitantly at Kim.

"Awful, right?" Kim asked, pulling the book aside before pushing another one to Bella. "I mean, how hard could it be? Then I decided that I couldn't exactly have a picture of a daisy on every product. Who wants a pine scented lotion with daisies on it? So I tried this." Flipping open the cover, Kim tapped her finger against the page.

Bella peered down at more pictures, this time showing weird clusters of circles or squares and lots of other shapes she couldn't name. The more pages she turned, the stranger the shapes became; some wrapped around the words Kim had told her were JK Designs and others without. The last picture in the book didn't look anything like the shapes from earlier or even like the animals from before. If Bella had to name it, though, she'd say it might be a tree, or maybe a log since it didn't have any leaves.

Kim leaned over to see what held Arial's attention for so long. "Oh, that. Jared was screwing around and being stupid. I told him not to doodle in my notebook, but he had already started it before I could get it away from him." Closing the book, Kim pulled it back towards her, sighing again.

"None of them were very good, huh?" She asked, not looking directly at Bella. "I think I'll just forget about it for now."

Tapping Kim on the arm, Bella tried to get the woman's attention. She knew she couldn't write and had no intention of doing so, but if she could point to things and have Kim write them, Bella felt like she could help.

When the Kim woman did look up, she smiled at Bella. "It's okay. I figured if we're going to be friends and neighbors, I'd let you see what I do."

This time Bella was the one to frown while shaking her head. She opened the notebook back up to the picture of the log and then half stood up to reach over Kim and grab the first design she had been shown. It took a lot of head shaking, nodding, pointing and movement for Bella to convey what Kim needed to do. The hours swept by quickly, neither one realizing the sun was sinking and that they had skipped lunch until Bella's stomach growled loudly. Loud enough that it actually scared her and her face went white.

Kim just giggled. "Oh, jeez, Arial, I completely lost track of the time." Stretching upwards, Kim turned around to glance at a clock. "It's four thirty. Paul won't be here for another hour or so. Let's go find something to munch on."

Still unsure, Bella looked around to find out what had sounded so mean. She watched Kim leave the room, but was hesitant to follow. What if the Kim woman hadn't heard the noise and some monster was waiting for her? Or maybe it was her bear friend? She wasn't strong enough to actually fight off the bear if it was him, but she might be able to distract him. With that thought in mind, Bella went to go find the Kim woman.

No scary creatures, no large bear things, not even someone other than Kim was in the kitchen when Bella ducked and weaved her way into the room. The Kim woman still didn't notice that anything might be wrong and as she talked while pouring a bowl of crackers and pulling out slices of cheese, Bella decided she must have imagined the scary growly noise.

She sat at the small dining table with Kim, managing to pocket a few of the crackers. She wanted to take some of the cheese as well, but knew it wouldn't last very long. She was going to have to figure out how to save more things, although if she was given food stuffs like the waffles, she wouldn't have a chance.

Kim led Bella back to the living room, telling her to sit down while she went to grab something. The Kim woman came back carrying one of the books she had been drawing in then sat down and turned the TV on. Eventually, Bella relaxed in her seat, tiredness creeping up on her as cartoons played and Kim giggled occasionally at the show playing while she continued to draw. The last thing Bella heard before succumbing to sleep again was the Kim woman laughing quietly as a cartoon bird and cat played tricks on each other.

* * *

><p>Paul checked his cell again for the millionth fucking time to make sure he hadn't missed any important calls. Snorting to himself as he shoved it back in his pocket, Paul realized that was a big fat fucking lie. As if he'd give a monkey's ass if some shit needed to get ahold of him. The only way he would actually answer his phone on the job was if Kim was calling and even then, he'd probably be running to the jeep before he could answer.<p>

All damn morning he had been plagued with shitty guilt for not getting Urchin her coffee. Coffee for fuck's sake! Like any damn imprint had suddenly keeled over and died because they hadn't had morning caffeine, Paul mentally scoffed. The entire thing was crazy. Beyond crazy. Most definitely borderline jet streaming into psychotic land. No way in hell should any wolf feel this shitty over forgetting to supply a quasi-addictive substance to his girl. It just wasn't done!

And yet, here he was, pissing and moaning and feeling shittier by the hour. What a pansy assed motherfucker he had been to cave and call earlier this morning to check up. After that brief bit of pussyness, Paul had gone back to work cussing and screaming with the rest of them as tools were dropped, people slacked off and shit seemed to go in a backwards motion.

Thank fuck the closer he got to La Push, the lighter he started to feel. Real fucking soon, he'd see his girl, know she was fine and be able to breathe like any normal, non-whipped, self-respecting bastard. Paul was almost fully convinced of that as he walked up the Cameron's walkway and knocked on the door. Kim answering the door with her finger pressed to her lips erased all that shit within a blink.

"What's wrong?" Paul hissed as he pushed the door open wide to allow him entrance.

"Nothing is wrong; Arial is asleep and I didn't know if you wanted to wake her up or not," Kim answered, quietly shutting the door to hurry after Paul.

"It's late and you guys slept until noon. Is she sick?" Paul sniffed the air with his wolf, knowing that wouldn't do any fucking good, but needing the wolf to participate anyways.

"It was more like ten and no, she isn't sick. She's just sleeping, doofus," Kim defended herself.

Crouching in front of the chair, Paul blocked out Kim's rantings, entirely focused on his girl. "Urchin? Hey Urchin, time to wake up and go home," he cajoled softly. It didn't take much, Urchin's eyes popping open quickly to stare at him in confusion.

"Hey," he said, unable to stop himself from reaching out for her. She seemed to be okay and before Paul's hands could lock together, Urchin wrapped herself around him to be picked up.

"Feel better?" Kim asked sarcastically to Paul's backside as he stood up to full height.

"As a matter of fact, I do, Chatty Kimmy," Paul replied, not giving a shit what she thought about his actions. His wolf went on giddy overdrive, still sniffing the air, but this time having its mate to scent over repeatedly.

Kim snorted in disbelief. "Well, as long as you're done being a snot, are you just going to leave?"

"Yeah. Why? Is there something else I need to do?" Paul asked, nearly letting out a sissy ass cooing noise when his urchin laid her head on his shoulder.

Fuck, he could think of a million of things he needed to do, none of which involved being at Kim's house and all of which included his girl. He didn't even notice that he started towards the front door with Kim trailing behind.

"As much as I don't miss you, Jared does. I thought you were guys were best buds?"

Paul started to scowl, his steps faltering as he stopped and turned around to face Kim who almost ran into him. "We don't have chick bits, we don't need to talk on an hourly basis."

"And trust me, I know all of this," Kim said, her hands reflexively coming to rest on her hips as she took a few steps away from Paul. "I mean, I'm really happy you aren't here to talk shit and give Jared bad ideas and crap, but you guys are still friends and you've been avoiding him."

"Busy," Paul barked out, slightly lifting his urchin upwards to show what he had been busy with.

"Shut up," Kim demanded, irritated that Paul would try to make excuses. "It would take you twenty seconds to call Jared. Both of you can burp and fart into the phone or whatever it is you do to show bonding and then be done."

"Right," agreed Paul with a wicked grin. "I'll see if I can stock up tonight on pork and beans and beer, so that Jared's fantasy phone call can come true. Anything else, my mistress?"

The mini argument had been disruptive enough for Bella to fully wake up and she lifted her head from Paul's shoulder to try and figure out what was going on and where she was. The sudden hand trying to delicately push her head back down scared her and Bella began to fight the movement.

"Easy there, Urchin," Paul warned her, deciding now was the time to give Kim the shittiest of all looks for ruining his good fortune. Urchin's movements froze and he sighed, anger at Kim being swallowed up by his concern for Urchin and whether or not this was about to become a zombie situation.

"Jeez, put her down, Paul," Kim said, rolling her eyes at what appeared to be an obvious solution.

However, Paul fucking knew if he tried to set Urchin down, she'd stand there like a straw, just waiting to be bent by whoever pushed first. His dumb ass hadn't been thinking about her comfort -but his- when he had tried to keep her resting on his shoulder and in the span of less than eight seconds shit had gone FUBAR to the tenth degree. Paul didn't have to rationalize his steps as he resumed walking towards the door, not even bothering to snark back at Kim and whatever shit she felt she was right about.

His movements quick and hurried, he secured Urchin inside the Jeep, damn near body checking into Kim when she popped up behind him as he slammed the door and turned to go.

"Jesus fuck, Kim," Paul sniped, backing into the closed Jeep door, "didn't we have our cuddly goodbye already? Shit!"

"Shut up, Paul. I want to know if you're really going to call Jared. This is important."

"Yes, fine, whatever. I'll get around to it, but right now is not a good time." With a patronizing pat to her head, Paul moved around the vehicle to get inside and away from this fuck-tarded conversation Kimmy was on.

Urchin was wide awake as he started the engine and pulled out of the driveway. She seemed to have zapped herself out of the freaky shit trance Paul hated. He hoped she'd just forget about what happened –whatever it was—and be herself tonight.

For the first time in his life, Paul thought that he might actually need to be on the receiving end of some attention from his imprint. Nothing over the top, he wasn't a complete 'tard licker. But he did feel weird, like he was partially head fucked or something, panicking over stupid shit, his chest feeling tight and uncomfortable like a goddamn alien was about to burst out any second.

Fuck, he spent too much damn time watching late night AMC.

And even though he could predict exactly what the guys would say, that he was acting like such a pussy that he might as well exchange his balls for one and call himself a girl, Paul was beginning to enjoy the immense comfort his body experienced any time a small, waifish urchin was near him.


	27. Chapter 26

A/N: Beta'd by ShadowPast620.

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><p>Paul was a single strand of a troll's ass hair away from being late for work the next morning. That alone said a whole hell of a lot considering he didn't believe in things such as rural stop signs, right of ways, or speed limits. Neither he nor his wolf could convince him to wake the fuck up and crawl out of bed. Away from his perfectly sleeping urchin.<p>

Last night had been smooth. No shitty phone calls, no Urchin panic attacks and the best part -aside from the massive amounts of cuddle time they spent on the couch- had been that Paul hadn't shoved his size 13 foot in his mouth at all by saying or doing something to upset Urchin. Top it all off with the fact that he hadn't had to kick anyone's sorry ass or kill anything, it had been a damn good night.

His sleep-in this morning wasn't all due to his incredible stress free night with Urchin. Claudia's day didn't start at the ass crack of dawn, and she wasn't an imprint dependent on her wolf's vehicle or time schedule. She had told Paul over the weekend that she would pick up Urchin on her way to class and not to bother dropping the girl off before Claudia herself was barely awake.

As much as Paul had wanted to call and confirm the plans –a pussy move if he had ever heard of one—he knew Claudia was meticulous with her schedules and wouldn't forget. It also helped his inner whiny wolf to know that should Claudia forget by some weird chance, then Leah would be able to swing by and pick up Urchin for the day. Plus, sure as fuck, if he did call, his ass would get stuck talking to Seth. That bitch had to secretly have a vagina somewhere for as much as he liked to gab.

The day got even better when Paul realized that his boss _was_ late and not available to see him barrel into the dirt lot where the guys parked for the day. Jumping out of his Jeep, Paul was ready to whistle Yankee fucking Doodle Dumbshit, or whatever the hell the themed tune was called. Truth be told, he was giddy enough to lip sync a Bitchy Spears song…if he knew any. It was times like these he was grateful for a man's ability to be oblivious to catchy tunes or he'd be a sorry ass mofo at the moment.

It was going to be a good day and Paul was relieved to know things were looking up for him and Urchin.

* * *

><p>The Claudia woman did not look happy to see Bella. Unlike the others, she hadn't even come to the door. Instead she sat in her car, honking the horn until Bella realized she was to go outside. Her Paul hadn't said anything about that, but there could be no other explanation for the constant horn blaring.<p>

Walking up to the side of the car Claudia was sitting in, Bella flinched when the woman rolled her window down.

"I am not a chauffeur. Get in on the other side and hurry up; we're late."

If Bella felt like she had any other option she would have taken it at that moment. Getting in the car already felt wrong, but getting in the car with someone who was glaring like this Claudia woman grated on Bella's nerves like the monsters had.

It was pure fear of the unknown that allowed Bella to go against her instincts and meekly get in on her own accord. There were no exchanges or words from the Claudia, not that Bella could start a conversation or anything. The silence was tense and uncomfortable and it wasn't until they had reached their destination before the Claudia did speak.

"My one short day of classes and I have to be an escort," she huffed under her breath as the car zoomed into a crowded parking lot. Forgetting that she had volunteered for this in order to make herself and her wolf Seth look good in the eyes of the others, Claudia muttered and ranted under her breath. She could have been by herself for as much noise as her passenger made. The skinny girl didn't even try to turn on the stereo or rummage through her purse, although Claudia did notice the girl didn't have any type of bag with her to begin with. Such a weirdo.

Bella trailed after her as Claudia walked quickly through the parking lot, into a building, and down a hallway. She had to jog to catch up when the woman opened a door and disappeared inside midway through the corridor; Bella hadn't been expecting that.

She also wasn't expecting for her shoulder to be grabbed when she went through the door Claudia had disappeared in. Her eep wasn't overly loud but maybe it had been. Claudia frowned all the same as she tugged Bella to follow her past rows and rows of books.

"This is the library. You're going to have to stay here while I got to class. You can look at any of the books that you want to, but do not leave, okay?" Digging in her satchel Claudia pulled out a notebook, opening it wide enough to tear off a scrap of paper that she scribbled on before thrusting it towards Bella.

"That's my name and cell number. If, god forbid, you get into trouble, hand that to someone so they can call me." She pushed the notebook back into her bag, securing the latch before turning to leave, whispering over shoulder, "and don't get in trouble. I can't just leave class because you happen to get lost or something."

Wide eyed, Bella watched as Claudia left her alone in an unfamiliar room. Her Paul hadn't said she'd be left alone like this, either. The whole purpose was so that she could be close to familiar faced people who could help her if need be. Not that she needed help, but…

A book hit a table somewhere and Bella jumped, turning to see what had happened. She watched as two women threw backpacks on a table and sat down, talking quietly. More people were scattered about, either reading or writing, some even typing on computers they had with them.

Bella stood for a long time exactly where Claudia had left her. She had no idea if she was allowed to sit anywhere she wanted or if the people were assigned certain seats. Homeless people didn't talk about libraries, although Sooty often spoke to Tinman Tom about seating at a place called Century Link and how they could kick you out if you tried to take someone's seat. And, if Bella thought really hard about it, she had seen restaurant workers kick people out of seats sometimes. Obviously that didn't happen when she had gone with her Paul, but Bella still didn't know how all of these were supposed to work except that Claudia had already told her how angry she'd be if Bella did something stupid.

When the first person had stared at her and then looked away, Bella brushed it off. But the longer she stood where she was, the stranger the looks she received from the others in the library. Studying the other occupants, it took her awhile to realize that everyone here had at least one book, usually more.

Bella decided to move. She couldn't read and had no idea what to do, trailing in between the numerous rows of books. Occasionally she'd pull one out, looking about cautiously in case Claudia had been mistaken and people weren't supposed to touch the books. No one said anything to her. Most of the books were the same; pages and pages of words she didn't understand.

Eventually Bella found a section where newspapers and magazines were housed and slunk over to a section of ones she had seen before in trash cans or left in the parks. The first one she grabbed had pictures of Halloween decorations and cakes.

Looking around the library, she wondered again if people had assigned seats or could sit where ever they wanted to. Her anxiety began to spike and she was starting to get scared. She didn't have any supplies with her, like food or a blanket, and while she sure as heck didn't want to leave her Paul man, she had no idea what she was supposed to do if the Claudia meanie left her here. Or worse, if someone else came up and told Bella she had to leave immediately.

Another person coughed, reminding Bella that she had looked weird just standing around, so she slowly followed a row of books, thankful when a small table appeared at the end and was vacant. She slid into the uncomfortable wooden chair and pulled the magazine she had chosen close to her body, still darting her eyes around to see if someone was about to tell her to move.

When no one came forward, she opened the magazine, spending many minutes on each to page to observe the pretty pictures. One after another, she'd get up to exchange the magazine for a new one, always returning to her secluded table to study it in somewhat private leisure.

About two thirds of the way through her current reading material and a sharp slap on the table in front of her caused a visible jerking motion down her spine.

"Hi," the person, a young man, whispered to her as he sat down across and started to open the book bag he had smashed down onto the table. "Mind if I sit here?"

He was big. He was scary. And Bella had no idea if she was allowed to tell him no, it wasn't okay for him to sit here. Apparently answers weren't needed as he emptied his bag of text books and notebooks before slinging it to the ground.

"My name's John," he announced between grabbing a pen and throwing a calculator onto the table. "I don't think I've seen you on campus before. Are you new?"

Frozen to her seat, Bella was without thought. Her hands felt like stone, cold and unmoving, and she couldn't even blink for fear of what might happen in those brief milliseconds when her eyes closed to block out this unknown person.

"You must be new," he answered, his eyes going straight to her breasts. "I'd have remembered if I'd seen you before. Were you doing study abroad or something? It's rather late to be enrolling now."

Bella had no idea what study abroad was, but if he was giving her an excuse for her sudden appearance, she'd take it and hope for the best. With a strained smile of politeness, she nodded.

"Yeah?" he asked somewhat surprised. "That's great. Where were you?"

Oh god…she had no idea. She didn't even really know where she was now, say nothing of making up another location.

"A secret, huh? That's okay. I'm good at keeping secrets," this John person whispered as he leaned across the table, his supplies apparently forgotten. "How about you tell me your name instead?"

Bella felt sick. Briefly she wondered who she could show the piece of paper to that Claudia have given her. She didn't care, she'd take all of meanie Claudia's words and stares in exchange for this guy's. The feel of his hand on her knee caused her already stiff muscles to freeze even more.

This was it, shortly she was going to be told by him to stand up and follow him someplace else so that he could hurt her. Bella felt like she couldn't breathe, her lungs refusing to suck in the required air as she thought she this John man's hand moved steadily up her leg to a place she didn't want to be touched. She knew that the easiest thing to do would be to lead him, let him think he was in control and then try to run away. It didn't always work, but even 50/50 were better odds than none.

Her body wouldn't move, but her mind was working just fine. It didn't escape Bella's attention that she had been taught her place by the monsters. Underground people were good for only being used and she had accepted that lot a long time ago.

Why she was still fighting these feelings, she didn't know. If this had happened before living with her Paul, there would be no thoughts of refusing. Actually, this was very close to the type of person the monsters liked. He wasn't sick or scruffy and they always complimented her on the people who were in shape.

"Are you going to tell me your name or do I have to guess that, too?" The John person said, a calculating smile filling his eyes.

It was the subtle expectation to the question he asked that sealed her decision. Bella knew that _look, _could detail to the second each action and sub-action he would do and expect. When he started to pile up the books he had just laid out, Bella no longer relied on what she had been taught. Instead she did what her body wanted: she got ready to run.

"There you are," Claudia hissed. Completely ignoring the man as if he wasn't even there, she pulled on Bella's shoulder to hurry her up. Bella's hand was still clutching the magazine she had been admiring and the tearing sound was loud as she looked up in shock and relief when Claudia appeared.

Loudly sighing in renewed anger, Claudia rolled her eyes. "Just leave it and come on before we really get in trouble."

Bella couldn't move quickly enough, scrambling up out of the chair, happy to get away from the John person. John wasn't as lenient as she had hoped.

"Hey, do you mind?" He said angrily, glaring at Claudia. "She's not one of yours and we were talking."

That evil smile that Bella feared of Claudia's was just as scary when it was meant for John.

"I don't have to mind, paleface. She's my neighbor's and we are leaving." With another sharp shoulder tug, Claudia tried to lead Bella back to her car.

"What do you want?" She demanded sharply once they were in the parking lot. John had followed and Bella was beginning to think maybe they should have tried to hide, or they could run if Claudia was fast enough. Bella wasn't too sure; Claudia didn't strike her as being overly athletic.

"I'm trying to figure out why a nice white girl like her," John said, thumbing towards Bella, "Is hanging around a skin like you."

"I don't know. Maybe my neighbor is racist and likes the lily skins. It's not my business." Unlocking the car door she had approached, Claudia waved for Bella to get in, and then shutting the door on the still talking John person to drive away.

"God, can you believe some people?" She asked aloud as if they hadn't just escaped from a harmer.

Bella wasn't entirely sure if she was supposed to answer, but she shook her head just in case while also hunching her shoulders inwards. It wasn't a conscious move. More of an involuntary response people used to appear less noticeable.

Not like it mattered. Claudia continued to rant as she sped, took curves sharply and kept throwing glares at Bella like every problem in the world was her fault. The words ran all together and Bella allowed them to flow around her unnoticed, thinking back to how comfortable she had felt sleeping in her Paul man's bed. Not when he awoke, obviously. But the assurance of knowing there was someone nearby who might actually, dare she think it, care about her?

It was a question Bella felt needed more time to think about despite the thrill and comfort she felt in suspecting it could be true.

"Hello! I'm talking to you!" Claudia snapped, clicking her fingers in front of Bella's face. "Paul said you liked normal fast food. Are you going to be an embarrassment if we go inside of McDonalds? Cause I can just as easily go through the drive thru, but if you spill anything you'll have to clean it up."

There was no doubt in Bella's mind that she probably would spill something; Claudia drove a little crazy.

"Uggh, what does that even mean?" she huffed in annoyance to Bella's head shaking. "We're just going to go inside. Try not to take too long."

Once inside, Claudia said nothing further to Bella, stepping forward in line to order her meal and then telling the cashier that was it. Bella, who had no money, nor could she request anything to begin with, stepped away and hovered until Claudia picked up her tray and walked over to a table to sit down and eat.

Bella's tummy felt a little empty, but she had eaten a cold bagel for breakfast and would make do until dinner when her Paul came home. A few hours was nothing to her. At least that's what she tried to tell her continuously growling stomach.

Once they left and were back in the car, Claudia's phone rang. She almost drove off the road when trying to answer, jerking the wheel suddenly once she had the phone in her hand, causing Bella to clutch tightly to her seat.

"Hello?... Oh, hi, Paul….Yes, she's fine. We just finished eating and are headed back to the Rez."

Bella couldn't help but feel slightly hopeful when she heard the Claudia woman say her Paul's name. There was no reason to feel anything since she couldn't talk. Somehow, though, Bella wished he would tell the Claudia woman to be nicer.

"…you want me to tell her you're going to be late?...No, I think Seth told me we were having a Clearwater family dinner tonight, but I can ask him…"

Seth would be a man's name, Bella was sure of it. Her head began shaking as soon as the Claudia woman said it and while not in answer to any question she had been asked directly, the Claudia person took it anyways.

"….Oh, hold on, Paul. Arial is shaking her head. I think she wants to wait until you get home…"

Wait for her Paul? Yes! For whatever it was, Bella would wait especially if others were involved. She was beginning to get used to the idea of strangers being around her, more specifically strange men, but it seemed like a good idea for these encounters to take place when her Paul was nearby. Just in case.

"I mean, if you want me to, I can just go there first and not even stop at your house so you know where she's at…yes, I'll tell her…okay, bye." The car swerved dangerously while Claudia fumbled to return the device. A few choice phrases and Claudia finally decided it was as good as it was going to get inside of her purse. She pulled her car back into the center of the lane before addressing the cowering girl beside her.

"That was your wolf, Arial. He says he'll be late getting home and since you don't want to spend the rest of the day with me, I'll be dropping you off at his place."

Bella didn't know what Claudia was talking about when she said "your wolf", but she recognized the malice coating the woman's words. She'd happily wait a few days until Paul came home before eating rather than spend more time in the presence of this mean person.

"God, you must be able to screw Paul stupid in order for him to put up with this act," Claudia spat out when the girl still didn't talk. "I mean, Paul is one egocentric bastard. It must drive him insane, having to fuck someone who can't tell him how amazing he is. Are you really a mute or does he overlook it because you can't keep his dick out of your mouth?"

By the time they returned to the Paul's house, Bella was almost in tears from the comments Claudia had made during the entire trip. The car started to roll in reverse before she could even stand up and attempt to close the door causing her to stumble and for Claudia to yell out more mean things.

Wiping away the mud on her pants, Bella limped to the front and let herself in, happy when the car engine sounds faded away. Knowing the house was empty, Bella stripped her pants in the entryway, frowning at the splotches of dirt she left. She used the already soiled pants to clean up the floor, balling them tightly to sit in the corner before limping further into the house and to the bathroom where she could shower and get cleaned up.

She was really hungry again by the time she got out. That was not good. There was no reason to be this hungry since she had already eaten earlier in the day. Even once a day eating was a luxury for people like her. She was starting to get mad at her tummy's demand for more. Nevertheless, carefully she pulled open the fridge door, wondering if it would be okay to make a sandwich. There wasn't much bread left and Bella knew Paul might have other plans for it.

Shrugging to herself, she took out a single piece of lunch meat and one slice of cheese, rolling it together to eat without any type of bread. Her tummy stopped making noises, but it still felt empty as she patted it experimentally. Water could help with that, though, and she went to get a cup, refilling it several times from the tap until she finally felt full.

This was the first time in a while since Bella had been left alone to do as she pleased. She should probably go outside and see if she could find a new hiding spot for food, but Paul had said that made him really sad. He didn't understand that it made her sad, too, when she didn't have supplies stored away.

Brightening considerably, Bella decided to go out anyways. Not far, but maybe the bear was out there and would sit with her. She put her boots back on and zipped her jacket before exiting out the front door.

Knowing she needed another tree, Bella walked around several before deciding on one. It wasn't visible from any of the house windows. However, it was within quick darting distance, so if her luck held, it would allow Bella the opportunity to make quick future storing trips. Plus she had to take a running start to jump up and grasp the first branch. No way would anyone else try to climb it. Not when there were other, more climbable trees-

"I'm telling you, the stories are legendary. This Lahote guy always has super models and shit just lying around his house naked."

The voice snapped Bella into action, her tree scaling a time record. She was only a few tree lines away from the house, enough to hide the structure but not deep enough to become threatening. The close location was exactly why she shouldn't be hearing any voice other than her Paul's. And he wasn't home to make noise.

"Yeah, you think?" said another hopeful male voice. "Man, that'd be sweet if we saw some. What if he's home?"

"He's not. He works off the Rez. I heard Jenny's sister talking about her boyfriend's sister who's dating one of his close friends. He has a new one this month and the girl said she was really pretty and he was keeping her at all times."

Bella had no idea who these people were or what they were talking about. They sounded intent on making trouble and she didn't want to be caught. They were really close to the house, too, and she had no way to call for help, just like her Paul had said. She could probably hide, but his house didn't have good hiding places. She would be better off staying here in the tree, out of sight. Readjusting her body, her foot slipped unexpectedly, the sound echoing loudly in the area as the hard rubber sole scrapped against bark.

"Shh, did you hear something?" One of the boys asked the other, stopping almost directly under the tree Bella was hiding in. She could almost see them clearly and hoped they didn't try to look up. She had no idea what to do if they saw her.

"It was probably just a bird or something. There's nothing out here but us. Come on, we're almost there."

Bella could hear twigs cracking before the two boys walking away did. It wasn't from them and worriedly she searched her tree, hoping the branch wasn't going to break. That would be just her luck, the branch giving away, Bella tumbling to the ground, two strange men finding her hurt and defenseless.

When a low, menacing growl issued through the tree line, Bella did lose her balance and slipped forward, her belly lying lengthwise on the branch with her chin scraping against the rough bark. She didn't fall to the ground, but her arm was hurting from the effort of keeping still, plus the earlier bump when she fell from Claudia's car.

The Paul was really going to be mad at her, assuming that the growl was from her bear friend and not some new beast that might eat her.

The boys took off running in fear with the animal giving mock chase through the forest, heard but not seen. Or so Bella assumed from her safety perch. Animals and humans were both a threat and despite any currently experienced pain, she was fine to wait.

It was a lot colder than Bella remembered the outside being. She waited a long time before risking a downward climb, falling the last few feet when her arm gave out on her. By the time she made it back into the house, she had tears in her eyes and wiped them away, mad that she was crying over something as silly as a hurt arm.

It never occurred to Bella to be upset over the actual events of the day.

She took off her boots and coat again before going back to the bathroom to look at her wounds, gasping loudly when the mirror revealed a large purplish black mark starting at her shoulder and traveling down to her elbow. She had a few smaller bruises on her ankle as well and cringed at the thought of what he would say when he saw them. The arm one she could probably keep hidden, but the ankle one would be more difficult since he held her feet a lot. Bella hoped she could distract her Paul with other things so he wouldn't notice.

* * *

><p>The entire drive home, Paul cursed the goddamn halfwit who had blown the circuitry in the office complex. It was an old building to begin with, but someone had failed to install a new, main power grid, only replacing the smaller one that was used separately for exterior lot fixtures. They had to wait three fucking hours for the county inspector to show up and approve the use of the new one they had installed after realizing the error.<p>

Dan was pissed and made the crew stay late to make up the missed time, threatening to make the guys work every weekend for the next six weeks. There was no leeway within the construction crew and as much as it pissed Paul off, if Dan came through on his threat, he'd be stuck working as well and forced to spend even more time away from his Urchin.

He needed a fucking beer to settle his nerves along with a nice groping –either giving or receiving—from Urchin. Damn, that wasn't going to happen. Maybe he'd need a whole case of beer.

And a few good hugs.

Pulling into his drive, Paul got out of his jeep, frowning again when he saw there was only one light on in the house and it wasn't even a main light, but the little table one. Had his urchin gone to bed already? It was only a little after eight. Nevertheless, he entered quietly just in case, immediately tuning in to the cardio system of his mate to judge if she was sleeping or not. She wasn't.

"What are you doing sitting in the dark, Urchin?" He asked flipping on the living room light, his girl curled up on the coach staring at nothing. She blinked a few times before giving him a hesitant smile and then shrugged.

For her sake and his inner furry crybaby, he really wanted to question the oddity. Tiredness and hunger won out instead. "I'm going to take a quick shower and then we'll eat, okay?" he announced, trying to unlace his boots and unbuckle his belt at the same time while walking to his room.

He failed at both and succeeded fucking brilliantly in looking like a drunk trying to dance.

The shower was snap quick, the clothes he donned latch-free, and the dinner he eventually made half-assed. However, Paul's suspicion ran high when he slowed his thoughts and they sat down to eat. He knew his girl was a righty, but she was using her left hand to pick up the tacos he had made.

It seemed absurd to notice such shit. "Are you okay?"

Paul wanted to punch himself in the mouth for his next verbal geyser even when he knew damn well Urchin had lied with her head shake. "I noticed you're using your left hand and not your right. Can I see your hand?"

He damn near shot up from the table as she flinched while extending her arm. She opened her hand willingly to show it was a little bit scratched, but nothing serious enough to cause pain. What the fuck did he know? His body would've healed any scratches in a matter of minutes.

"Did you trip?" Paul asked, inspecting the weird abrasion patterns. He caught himself pulling her arm closer to him, his tongue peeking out to take a healing lick. It was an epic battle to roll that slobbering bitch back into his mouth and keep his teeth firmly clamped. His damn tongue had grown its own mind much like his penis and inner wolf already had.

Urchin's vigorous head nod and the relief sweeping across her face confirmed to Paul that she was lying. He didn't want to stop her from eating; she seemed hungrier than she had been for past dinners. He decided to wait until they were both done before questioning her more.

If he thought his shock level had already reached its limits for the day, Paul felt sucker punched once they had finished and she had eaten a full taco, part of another one and all of the corn on her plate.

"I'm happy to see you're eating so much, Urchin. Did Claudia make you eat a crappy salad for lunch? She's big on those," Paul joked, turning around in time to see his girl blush and look at the floor.

"Urchin?" he asked wondering what had her upset. "Did you not enjoy your lunch? I told her to let you choose whatever you wanted. Did she make you eat a salad against your will?"

Urchin didn't answer at all, her blush deepening.

"Did you have a burger?"

-nothing.

"Chicken? Fish?"

She didn't respond to any of the foods he was inquiring about. Looking back at the dishes, he realized once again just how much she had eaten.

"Did you not eat anything for lunch?" he asked sadly, wondering if she had been embarrassed to do so.

She finally shook her head and Paul's heart crumbled. Neither Leah nor Emily had mentioned that his girl had trouble or was hesitant to eat with them. He wondered why she would be uncomfortable with Claudia unless it was because they were out in public, although she had eaten okay when they went out with Fuller.

"Damn, Urchin. And then I was late coming home for dinner…no wonder you were so hungry. Why didn't you eat when you came home or go with Claudia to Sue's house? She would've made something for you."

He walked over to where she was still standing motionless and bent down to hug her, stumbling back when she made a weird moan of pain.

"Shit, what's wrong. Did I hurt you?" he asked frantically, already smelling the saltiness of her tears.

She continued to shake her head, Paul confused as shit as to why she was crying. He hadn't hugged her very tightly, more of a simple embrace around her…arm!

His eyes narrowed further as he studied his girl. She wasn't wearing one of her usual pull over sweaters, but a plain button up pajama top. She was also still wearing jeans which meant she hadn't changed for bed. What the fuck was going on?

"It's cold tonight. Why are you wearing the lighter pajama top instead of the heavy flannel ones you like?" The more he thought about it, the more Paul began to suspect that his urchin was hurt. An absolutely fucking ridiculous idea since she had been with people all day and if some shit had happened, someone would've told him right away.

"Can I see?" he asked, knowing she realized he had to have guessed something was wrong.

She nodded her head and then stood still waiting for him to come over and roll up her sleeve. Her arms were thin enough to do so, the material sliding easily when he pushed it up. It reminded Paul once again what a bunch of evil fucking monsters people were and that he was probably the first person to even give half a rat's ass care about her wellbeing.

The horrid sight of coloring marring the first inch past her elbow and he damn near phased on the spot, the wolf within lunging in anger at the sight. Breathing deeply and steadily he continued to push the material forward, the wolf not calming at all as the severity of the bruise grew.

He let the material drop back down before pressing his finger under her chin to look directly in her eyes. "Do you know who did this to you?"

Paul knew the answer before her head could move, her eyes widening.

"Did it happen when you were with Claudia?"

She paused before shaking her head no.

"Did it happen when you came home?"

Yes, came the sad nod.

He stepped away from her before the rage overcame his control, his hand sweeping out to overturn a table and destroying a lamp while he cursed violently. His girl tried to limp away in fear, the motion catching his eyes and reminding Paul that she had more than just a bruise on her arm.

Her eep of panic didn't stop him from dropping behind her with his arm firmly clamped around her waist while he lifted her pant leg and pushed down the sock of her right foot, more ghastly bruises appearing.

"Motherfucking, son of a bitch! What the fuck happened, Urchin? Did you fall down a flight of stairs or out of a tree?" he screamed in blind fury.

"Yeeh," she sobbed once, trying to get away from him. She was scared, hurting and wanted to hide.

Paul reeled back in shock when she spoke, still holding her around the waist least she fall again in her struggles. His lips made weird motions, opening and closing while he struggled to decide what issue to tackle first.

His girl had been fucked over by someone and Paul wanted answers yesterday.

But she had talked, sort of. His otherwise silent urchin had said something real fucking close to the word "yes" and that was a huge fucking milestone he wasn't sure how to address. Or get her to repeat. Or how to even let her know it was so goddamn awesome he'd take her out to celebrate if he wasn't currently pissed off enough to kill a few people.

The shock value alone at hearing Urchin speak damn near bowled Paul over. His breathing, too, increased drastically, his mind trying to slow the fuck down enough to remember what he had asked her. Hell, he didn't even know if the question was important. Something about…

Fuck! She was still crying, and as he looked at her ankle again, Paul realized she was still injured and someone was due an ass kicking. Probably two or three.

The knock on his door was unexpected and Paul watched as his urchin stifled her sobs, an odd choking cry still forcing its way through her lips. He couldn't let her go, not like this, and would have ignored the person if they hadn't bothered to open the door on their own.

Paul was seriously beginning to think today was National Ass Kicking Day.

"Paul? It's just me. Can I come in?" Quil asked hesitantly, his own senses telling him that he'd be much safer tying raw steaks around his neck and jumping into the ocean to swim with sharks rather than enter this wolf's den.

"It's not the best time for a visit."

"I know, but I tried calling and you didn't answer, and something happened today that I need to talk to you about."

"Fuck off, Ateara!" Paul's voice was too close to a primordial growl and his girl's fear level jacked up a million more notches. No way would Quil walk away from an imprint's fear, even if Mighty Sam hadn't decreed that the rest of the pack was on permanent Lahote-Imprint-Watch.

Being caught between a rock and a hard place was fucking easily done blindfolded compared to being caught between two wolves. It didn't matter that both were gunning for Urchin's wellbeing, her eyes took in Paul's look, Quil's sudden appearance and she literally began to shake.

Quil's appearance was a huge fucking no-no and rather than argue verbally with the moron, Paul decided it would be easier to let the twat think he had the upper hand. Once Paul stepped outside and Quil became distracted with the sound of his own voice, Paul could just knock the shit out of him, leave him out on the lawn like a demented gnome –the imagination stretch between the two wasn't that far—and then get back to his girl.

Quil cleared his throat awkwardly, reminding Paul that he was still fucking there and not likely to leave any time this century. And if Quil did leave, it would probably be to get more wolves and that would just fuck this situation even more than it already was.

"Yeah, okay!" Paul shouted before being reminded that the shaking wasn't him but his girl. "Give me a minute, will you? I'll be right out." Picking up his imprint in one fluid motion, Paul carried her to the couch, sitting her down and covering her with the blanket she had been using from earlier.

Urchin didn't fight Paul at all which told him her mind was just as clusterfucked as his own at the moment. With any luck, he'd be able to get her to talk. Fuck it, one word answers worked just fine. In fact, Paul kinda preferred those to begin with.

Exiting the house, Paul pushed up his sleeves, reinforcing that ass kicking number one was definitely going to be quick, fast, and well inflicted.

"What?" He demanded, growling none too lightly when Quil tried to look over and around his frame in order to peek inside of the house. It was a good thing Quil's wolf listened better than him. The pack member recognized the difference between a typical asshole response and one that would end with loss of limb.

"A couple of teens were out on the Rez today causing trouble," Quil said quickly. "I was scouting an area to the far east and didn't pick up their trail until they were practically in your backyard. I could hear Arial out here, too, but I didn't want to scare her and those boys were going to break in to your place. I chased them off and then came back here to make sure Arial was okay, but by then she had already gone inside."

"I want names and I want to know how they managed to beat her without you being able to hear it!"

"They didn't touch her; they couldn't have." Paul's look clearly said he thought Quil was lying and he was willing to extract the man's tongue to prove it. "Do you honestly think I'd let some hoodlums beat the crap out of your imprint, not do anything about it and then leave her alone, not even bothering to check on her?"

"That's the problem, Quil. No one checked on her. You guys nagged the shit out of me about making sure the pack could help because I was doing a shitty job of it and you know what? Without my fucking assistance, in one day, part of our pack let her go hungry and then left her alone. My fucking girl is bawling her eyes out cause she got hurt and I can't do a fucking thing about it!"

Quil thought Paul could stop yelling and scaring the shit out of everything within a mile radius, but knew better than to offer that suggestion. "I still don't understand how she got hurt. If you're telling me someone hit her, I believe you, but I'd be doubtful that it was the two teens and I didn't smell anyone else in the area."

That was the problem. In a perfectly rational world, Quil would have protected Urchin, she'd be able to talk and there wouldn't be any incident of some Rez rat hoodlums. But ever since the evil Imprint fairy had shot Paul in the ass with its love arrows, everything was fucked up.

"Well it sure as hell wasn't Claudia that hurt her," Paul said. "I talked to her around two o'clock and apparently my girl was able to convince her she ate her goddamn lunch."

"Paul, I don't know what to say." Quil had no idea what food had to do with any of this. He knew better than to ask, though, otherwise he'd look like the dumb one and Paul was already vibrating on the wrong side of a wolf explosion. "Arial can't tell us who hurt her unless you want to parade her up and down the entire town to point them out."

It was sound, reasonable advice to Quil's ears. Paul stripping in front of him said otherwise.

"No, I don't need to do a fucking lineup," Paul ranted. "We already know who hurt her." Fully nude now, his voice dropped into a guttural tone that was barely distinguishable as words. "And you're going to show me." His form shifted and contorted, the wolf within finally free.

It lunged.


	28. Chapter 27

"Then, while I was transcribing, I came to the part where the doctor mentioned the woman was in damn near perfect health, but he still wanted her to come in for checkups every two weeks!" Slamming the oven door, Leah marched back into the living room where Sam lay sprawled across the couch, halfheartedly listening to the news and his wife at the same time.

Luckily, Sam knew he could always rewatch the news later that night. "Lee-Lee, I'm sure the doctor is just doing his job. Didn't you say earlier she was an elderly patient? Maybe he just thinks that at her age, something could go wrong suddenly."

"Well, of course things go wrong suddenly. Hell, for all anyone knows I could drop dead tomorrow," Leah huffed, recoiling slightly when Sam gave a distressed whine at that particular thought. "I just meant it as an example. Don't worry, Sammy, I plan to make sure I'm around long enough to give you grey hair."

She would, most definitely, of that Sam was certain. He didn't mind in the slightest. His mate was just blowing off steam. She liked her job as a transcriptionist, but some doctors seemed to piss her off more than others. Sam figured it was either because they had poor handwriting or poor linguistic skills.

With his long limbs, Sam had no problem reaching over to the chair Leah had sat on, grabbing her foot for some affection massage time. Her laughter thirty seconds into the process confirmed that Leah wasn't really upset and Sam settled back into his cushion, once again trying to hear news tidbits.

It was his overactive sense that picked up the first signs of distress. Nose wrinkling in disgust, Sam knew whatever Leah had tried to cook was at least ten minutes past well done and probably two minutes away from being burnt to shit. He should probably just be grateful they were even eating, considering it was past eight p.m..

"What the fuck is that?" Leah screeched, jumping up out of the arm chair she had been reclining in. Sam was about to inform her it was their dinner's death when he realized she wasn't commenting about the smell, but instead about the dangerous animalistic growls increasing in volume.

Sam beat her to the door, throwing it open wide and was outside before his imprint had even left their living room. "Stay inside until I come back," he ordered gruffly, already in the process of shedding his clothing. The sounds and still human Quil told Sam that this was a pack dispute and not a vampire one, although both could be deadly to the casual bystander.

"Paul! Back down," Sam ordered, his command undeniable. Most of the time.

"Sam, he's fucking lost it," Quil yelled angrily, trembling from the urge to shift. He knew if he did, Paul would see the faces of the two troublemakers from earlier. The boys were already scared shitless from the chase Quil had given and he damn well knew Paul wouldn't care for any explanation they may or may not have to offer in regards to his imprint and whatever happened to her.

Sam spared a glance away from Paul to stare at Quil, waiting for a better explanation than that. If his Alpha had any hope of controlling Paul, his ass would need to get fuzz covered. Sam was as smart as Paul had figured and he did phase, absorbing the images and memories from Paul with an unneeded and painful force.

Something had really snapped in the angry wolf, Sam thought, wondering why Paul had resorted to wanting names and not just tracking the scent that would have been left by both Quil and the boys.

_Because I wasn't fucking thinking like that,_ Paul answered, switching his thoughts to those of his girl's arm and ankle, the unfortunate scene of Paul's lapse in temper when he threw the table and scaring the girl even more making Sam growl sickeningly.

_Don't you fucking dare. I didn't fucking hurt her._

_Paul, you don't even know what happened. Why didn't you start with asking Claudia?_

_You honestly think Seth's girl hurt mine? Are you fucking nuts?_

_Are you? Those aren't handprint bruises. They look more like impact ones._

_Exactly. Urchin didn't fucking throw herself into multiple objects. Some soon to be dead dick had to have done it and since no one else was there, we know who did._

_Why did she go outside to begin with?_

_Fuck you, Sam. You bitched me out in accusations that I was keeping her a damn prisoner. I changed the fucking locks and asked her to stay inside for safety but as you pointed out before, I can't keep her chained in the house._

_Would you pull your head out of your ass and listen to me for one minute. What could've happened to make her want to leave the safety and comfort of the house?_

_What the hell does that matter?_

_It fucking matters because if she left quickly or because something scared her, her injuries could be self-inflicted._

Sam's suggestion cut off Paul mid-growl, his shock apparent enough when the wolf's mouth grew slack and his tongue rolled out limply. However, his mind was never one to slow or be short on verbally graphic exclamations.

_What. The. Fuck. Did you just forget that it's already been determined she didn't fucking hurt herself?_ Paul asked his inept leader slowly.

Quil slowly inched away from the two wolves, hoping to make a quiet and unnoticed retreat. He didn't have to be in wolf form to know what the conversation was about. If Paul had inflicted any imprint damage, Sam would've seen it and the black wolf would've been on Paul's back already, literally.

None of the wolves were by any means small or lacking in strength, but aside from Sam, only Paul and Jacob carried the extra weight and bulk of enforcers. If shit hit the fan, it would be one of those three to catch it and mete out justice. Quil's presence was not currently needed at all.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught the scowl of Leah glaring from the front window. She had probably figured out by now that this definitely wasn't monster related. Quil could almost count down the seconds before she'd storm out and demand Sam to fill her in. With a small smile and quick wave, he finished his slow retreat, stepping behind much needed foliage to disappear from sight completely.

Paul's head whiplashed in the direction of the only moving leaves. He damn well fucking knew Quil had just pussy footed away. But Paul didn't need bitch boy's memories any longer. He'd go back home and pick up the trail himself like Sam had suggested—

_NO!_ Sam's growl was both aloud and mental. _Resume form, go home and wait until we arrive. I will speak to Seth and Claudia and then come to your house with Jacob. We will figure this out rationally and not harshly. Understood?_

Exasperation and incredulity were thick and bitter. _You think I had something to do with this? That's why you want to bring Jacob in on it. _Paul spat, his bile of disgust too large and tart to keep within. _Fuck you, Sam. I might be a lot of things, but I have never raised a hand to a woman and I sure as fucking hell wouldn't start with one as small and innocent as my imprint._

Sam watched as the wolf Paul walked away proudly. He didn't know if he fully believed Paul held no part of inflicting the wounds he had been mentally fed. He wanted to believe his counterpart was innocent; that Paul had reason to be concerned of some evil, other force. The problem was coincidences were rarer than non-blood drinking vampires whenever Paul Lahote was involved.

Back inside Sam spent some minutes pacing restlessly, although he suspected the cremation of dinner added to his discomfort. He had been able to text Jake and as an afterthought told the man to meet him at the Clearwater's in five instead of at Paul's later on.

Unfortunately he couldn't text Seth and Claudia to hear their side of today's events. Typed answers would tell Sam nothing about how an imprint could have been hurt. Calling would be quicker than driving over there to talk face to face. However, that would have guaranteed that Leah heard everything and he was hoping to keep her out of this until he was clearer on what had actually happened to Arial.

"You want to go to my parent's house while I stay here?" Leah asked doubtfully when Sam told her after making his decision.

Sam checked his pockets one more time before walking to the front door, hoping to make a painless getaway. "C'mon, Leah, don't be like that. You know this is pack business and the longer I have to stay here to argue with you, the longer it'll take to figure out what happened at Paul's."

Her hand flashed out quickly to shut the door he had just opened. "You still haven't told me what's this about!"

"It's pack business. It's not something that needs to be discussed right now until I know more about the situation." _Smile. Look at ease. Pretend it's no big deal._

"A situation that involves who? My parents, my brother or Claudia?"

"Uh, you know, it's pack, so Seth, obviously."

'And Claudia?" Leah asked, her eyes practically information raping Sam's.

"Maybe."

"Then this includes imprints, too. Tell me now before I have to call Claudia and ask her to leave me on speaker phone stealth."

The look of passiveness Sam had been shooting for fell flat. "Why can't you just wait until I know?"

"Because it's a waste of time. Besides this obviously involves my family and I'll know sooner or later; why not make it sooner?"

"No," Sam stated firmly, if not a bit desperately when Leah began to button up her coat in preparation of going.

"Don't 'no' me, Samuel. It's my parents. I can visit them now if I want to and you can't tell me no!"

"Wait!" Desperation overfilled Sam's craw. "You can't go because afterwards me and Jake have to go to Paul's."

Leah's eyes lit up in a bad way and Sam knew everything he had just said in the past three minutes had been wrong.

"You big ogres are not going to gang up on her alone again," she commanded, using Sam's stationary body as a handhold while she tugged on a shoe.

"Claudia? She'll be fine," Sam promised, offering his other hand unthinkingly when Leah switched to pull on the other shoe.

Leah stamped her foot to make sure her heel was secure before glaring upwards again. "Don't be ridiculous, Samuel. Claudia isn't afraid of your dumb asses; Arial is!"

"When did we ever gang up on Arial?"

"When Paul first brought her home you would've if I hadn't stepped in. And now, like then, it looks like I'm going to have to do that shit again. She's hurt and probably fucking terrified of that Neanderthal claiming to be her imprint. She has no idea about you guys and you're going to literally scare her to death when more than one of you approaches."

"Leah, you can't go running to defend her every time something happens." Did his voice really sound that weak? Shit, Sam was going to have to work on that. "Besides, we don't know exactly what went on. Paul's house might not be safe."

"Sam, what do you do in your spare time?" Leah asked, her voice mockingly sweet. Sam knew he was about to be handed his ass. Again. "Did you or did you not tell me after your first vampire kill that it was silly of me to worry about you guys getting hurt?"

"Leah, that's different. We aren't dealing with a vampire here. We're dealing with an unknown."

"An unknown human!" she hollered before dropping her head to rub at her temples in impatience, muttering, "So help me…" Looking back up, her voice turned seriously mean. "If you're actually going to tell me three fucking werewolves can't keep me safe from some lousy unknown human, we are moving away from here to live the rest of our days on some tropical island full of people where even with a sunscreen of SPF 3 million a vamp would sparkle like the Hope diamond."

Dumbfounded, Sam could only stare in defeat. Leave it to his imprint to remember one lousy, insignificant vampire fact and then use it as a threat tool. One way or another, though, Leah would know what was going on, probably before Sam even did! The fact that women could share details faster than a pack of mentally molded werewolves was uncanny.

"Well?" Leah asked, tapping her foot impatiently and nodding to the outside. "Are we going or not?"

"Yes, Dear," Sam whispered, holding open the door to allow his imprint to walk out first.

* * *

><p>"So, how did it go?" Seth asked, bouncing up and down on his bed while Claudia sat hunched over some textbooks at his desk. "Did you guys do anything special? Was she scared? What did you think of Arial? Do you think you'd like for the four of us to hang out sometime? Maybe soon?"<p>

"No way," Claudia unthinkingly muttered aloud, scratching out what she had just written.

"Oh. So it didn't go well?" Seth's voice lost its perkiness.

"Not at all," Claudia said before realizing how her wolf was taking the news. She looked up and dropped her pencil quickly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean that."

Seth smiled again, fully genuine. "Really? So it did go good?"

Unable to watch Seth's disappointment while she explained things, Claudia looked back down at her notebook. She had just finished telling him the part where Arial had been reading a magazine with some strange guy at the library when Sue interrupted them, knocking on Seth's door jamb.

"Claudia dear, Sam is here to see you. He's waiting outside for you."

"Sam's here for Claudia? Do you mean me, Mom?" Seth asked in confusion.

"No, honey. He said Claudia only. Leah is with him, though, so I'm sure it's nothing to worry about."

Seth started to relax back down on his bed, sure it must be something girl related. If it was any other imprint visiting he'd probably go down as well to socialize. It being his sister, however, the two usually bickered like good natured siblings and poor Sam would become slightly insane at the harmless banter. It was easier and more considerate if Seth just waited upstairs until they left.

Out of nowhere, another voice boomed across the house. "Jake's here," Harry Clearwater yelled absentmindedly up the staircase when he passed by the front window and spotted the arriving vehicle.

"For Claudia?" Seth guessed, standing up, suddenly very nervous as to why two other wolves were at _his_ house, asking to see _his_ imprint and not him. He looked at his girl who also looked worried and held out his hand for comfort. "Let's go see what this is about."

Claudia's nervousness told Seth that she had no idea why two wolves wanted to speak to her, although it was possible Jake was here for him. He gently squeezed his girl's sweaty palm and helped her put on a jacket before the two of them stepped out into the frigid air.

"What's up, Sam?" Seth asked, nodding towards Jake who was standing farther away and not really part of the social circle. That alarmed Seth as much as the fact that Leah was positioned behind Sam and not next to him as a social visit would entail.

"I need to speak to Claudia about what happened today," Sam said, his voice level.

Seth squeezed Claudia's hand again to silence her when she started to talk, scoping Jacob's position as well. He was here as an enforcer. "Did something happen that I need to be aware of? Claudia hasn't mentioned any problems."

"Paul showed up on our doorstep a little while ago, demanding to know how his imprint came to be injured," Sam said, glossing over some of the details.

Both Jacob and Seth watched as Seth's defensive posture turned into one of concern. He swung around to face Claudia, pulling in her for a tight hug. "Oh, my god! What happened? Are you okay? Were you hurt? Why didn't you say something? Are you okay?"

"I don't…I don't know what Sam is talking about," Claudia said. God she felt uneasy. Every person there could smell it.

"Did anyone attack you or threaten you and Arial?"

"No!" Claudia insisted, the truth behind the statement real. No one had hurt them.

"What about the guy you mentioned?" Seth asked her before turning to Sam in full cooperation. "Claudia said Arial was sitting with some strange guy at the library. Could that have been the person who hurt Arial?" Turning back to his imprint, Seth hugged her more tightly. "Why didn't you say something? Has this person bothered you before today? Do I need to go to class with you and have a talk with someone?"

That thought was appealing to Claudia. If people like that loser, John, saw that she was more than happy with her wolf, and that he in no way compared to Seth, maybe the idiot would shut up. Despite living in the twenty first century, her Native American heritage denoted her as a "lesser race" to a large majority of people. She was good enough for the Johns of the world to want to fuck her, but nothing more.

Claudia spent the next ten minutes telling Seth and Sam how her day had gone. No, things had not gone as smoothly as she would have liked with Arial. The library incident was probably nothing. She hadn't heard Arial complain and the girl hadn't looked like she wanted to get away or anything, and maybe they had been coincidentally sharing the same table and magazine. She had tried to communicate with the silent girl, Claudia told the men, but Arial had behaved aloof and uninterested.

"And then, after lunch, I dropped her off at Paul's house," she finished, Seth's arm securely flung over her shoulder. "Arial never acted like she had been hurt or anything." Not that Claudia had hung around to find out.

"What about lunch itself?" Sam asked, still uncertain as to what could have happened. "Paul said Arial acted like she hadn't eaten."

The three wolves tensed slightly when Claudia did, this particular question evoking a sharper response than others had.

"I didn't want to mention it," she mumbled, her cheeks beginning to redden. "Arial didn't like any of the choices I listed and when I asked her if she wanted to eat elsewhere, she signaled no to that, too. I asked if she minded if I ate there and she shook her head no. Even after, I asked her again if I could take her somewhere or help her make something and she said no."

Claudia's emotional state was so far off of the grid that neither Sam nor Jake could tell what the reason might be. It would be logical to assume that Arial not eating could be misconstrued by Paul and nobody would want to have to deal with his over emotional ass. It was a logical choice on Claudia's part not to tell Paul his imprint refused food; all three wolves silently agreed on that.

"You did nothing wrong," Seth assured his girl, glaring at Sam and Jake to hurry up and leave them alone. Obviously this had been a trying experience and Seth was beginning to feel guilty for having pushed Claudia into something she wasn't prepared for.

"Did you buy her a drink?" Leah asked out of the blue, her question catching everyone off guard.

"Whaa—what?" Claudia stuttered.

"A drink. You said you stopped to eat and that Arial didn't want anything to eat. But did you offer her a beverage?"

The question appeared to confuse Claudia and her brows puckered into uncertainty before she answered. "Yeah, Arial wanted a milkshake." She nodded more firmly to emphasize her answer. "I asked if she wanted one after she said no to water and tea."

"Okay," Leah said, shrugging her shoulders casually. The others stared at her doubtfully, not one of them believing that was it, but when Leah refused to comment further, no one pushed.

"Uhh, right," Sam agreed, thrown off track by his imprint's odd inquiry. "And nothing else?" he asked Claudia.

"Not that I can think of," she admitted quickly.

Jake cleared his throat before adding in. "And you didn't see anyone around Paul's house when you dropped off Arial, or on your way back to Seth's?"

"No, not that I recall," Claudia admitted, appearing to concentrate hard on the events from earlier. "She got out of the car, went inside and then I left. I didn't see anyone else around, but I wasn't really looking for anyone either."

"And no one expects you to have thought anything otherwise," Seth consoled his imprint by rubbing the arm opposite the side he was standing on.

She responded in kind by leaning heavily against Seth, suddenly exhausted. "Sam, if I can think of anything else, I'll call you or have Seth call you. Right now I'd like to go back inside, if it's okay? It's getting kind of cold out here."

Nobody had a chance to say another word, Seth pushing Claudia back towards the front door. With a quick kiss, he told her he'd be inside shortly, waiting until the door had closed behind her before turning on the trio still stationed outside of his house.

"So what are we looking at here?" he asked, entirely serious. "You want me to run patrols tonight as well? I will, no problem. Damn, do you think this mystery person could be after Claudia, too? Is it just one person or more? Seems strange that they'd only target a person who hasn't been here on the Rez very long. Why Claudia, though? You know me, Sam; I don't have any problems with anyone and I can't see Claudia having any issues. If anything like that had happened, I'd have heard about it by now, right? Or you. The council would've informed you or Jake. Or Billy. Nothing gets by him, he knows all the Rez gossip!"

Everyone took a collective breath when Seth paused. The kid could talk nonstop.

Sam jumped in before Seth could recover. "I appreciate your concern, Seth, but right now I'm not sure what we're looking at. Let me and Jake talk to Paul and scout around his house first before anything rash is decided." He began nudging Leah back towards their car, feeling as though this had been a waste of everyone's time.

"Wait!" Seth called out, approaching Leah from opposite the side Sam was on. "Why did you ask Claudia about a drink? That was weird. What do you know?"

Damn, Sam had been hoping Seth would have forgotten about that. He, too, wanted to question his mate about what she suspected. The girl was sharp, but she knew something Sam didn't; he'd bet a week's worth of no sex as punishment that she did.

"It was just a question," Leah answered, wearing her most innocent face.

Sam didn't buy it. Jake looked like he wasn't willing to challenge her for a different answer. Seth, unfortunately, trusted his sister to tell the truth always. He smiled in thanks at her simple words and turned to leave, leaving the other two men staring in disbelief at his retreating figure.

"That was either the most cold hearted thing you've ever done, Leah, lying to your brother," Jake said as he walked over to his own vehicle, "or we should consider yanking Seth's rights as a wolf. He fell for that quicker than it takes Jennifer Lawrence to trip."

"Funny that Jake mentions performance awards," Sam said to his wife, glaring as she closed her door. "We need to discuss yours." The driver side door slammed shut, the two occupants bickering the entire drive to Lahote's. Jake, behind them, wondered whose Alpha authority would be exerted this round: Sam's or Leah's.

* * *

><p>Bella was in a bad place. Unlike her normal bad places where she could shut off the outside world, this one she could see and feel everything around her. No one was touching her, nor had she been struck by the Paul man, but she hurt everywhere, her body shaking in an unknown way.<p>

He had left her here on the couch, wrapped up and waiting. She knew what was to come, had been waiting for it all along. It had never occurred to Bella that when her time to pay did arrive, he would expect it because she had angered him.

Well, that wasn't entirely true. Most men were angry it seemed, but he, the Paul man, had started to seem different to Bella. He liked to hug her, especially if he had yelled at her and he was always saying sorry to her in between those bad words. Why had he said bad words this time…?

She had done something to anger him. Why couldn't she remember? Oh, this was really bad. She needed to remember quickly what it had been, not only to make sure she didn't do it again, whatever the it was, but so she could also show him she was sorry. There had been a question and she had shaken her head yes? No? There had been several questions, but Bella couldn't remember if they had all angered the Paul man or just one in particular.

While she knew she didn't feel normal and that the shaking was weird, Bella didn't recall that she had spoken or that she was presently breathing too rapidly to absorb much needed oxygen. Her vision could've been blurred because of the funny shaking; tears were as unrecognizable as the breathing.

Time made none of her symptoms increase, decrease or go away. She sat close to the spot she had been placed in, but had to keep pulling herself back since her body seemed to slide forward and off the cushions. That, too, however, faded away and like everything else, Bella didn't know she had hysterically vibrated herself to the floor.

Bella's ears, numb to her own wheezing, distinctly heard the opening click of the front door. The Paul man wasn't trying to be quiet at all and the door knob slamming into the wall was loud enough to cause a hiccup in her adrenaline induced reaction.

The hiccup was the only reprieve to be had. The Paul man was upon her in seconds; faster than, if possible. He dropped to the floor beside Bella, untangling the blanket wrapped around her. Bella thought that was probably a bad idea, considering her limbs were still moving funny. The look of unadulterated rage wiped Bella's mind free and clear.

"Fuck!" He cursed, grabbing Bella's arms. She expected him to shake her, but maybe that was the one thing she was already taking care of? She waited for the fondling to begin and wasn't prepared when he lifted her up gently to place her in his lap.

Had he left to bring people, other men, here? She couldn't see much from her position and the shaking…oh no. She had tears in her eyes already. Oh geez, he was really going to inflict the pain if she was already crying. The monsters had made that an early lesson and until just now, she thought it would never happen again.

Bella was fairly sure she deserved whatever punishment the Paul man felt was needed. However, something sour twisted in her stomach at the thought of him wanting other people to hurt her, or worse, for him to want to watch the damage take place.

The Paul man didn't really talk, he just held her closely against him. He did say a lot of bad words, mumbled and softly, though, not loud or at her directly. He kept rubbing her arms, also softly, and during the first ten minutes of passes Bella tensed, waiting for the blows to begin.

Her mind never stopped telling her it would happen. Her body and heart, though, were either too tired or thought differently, both slowing down until Bella felt like she had just run across No-Go Pass, a section of the Underground more treacherous and dangerous than most. Her eyes wouldn't close, but Bella felt like she was asleep all the same. Until suddenly, two other people were in front of her and the Paul man tensed, his angry words coming back in full force.

Bella had nothing else to fight with. Thinking she was prepared for what was going to happen and actually seeing the people who were there to hurt her were not the same thing. Her mind and body both shut down, causing her to pass out while being held.

"You stupid fucking dick!" Paul spat out, his anger levels having no problem whatsofuckingever staying online in full power. "Maybe you should just kill me now cuz you damn near just killed my urchin and if she goes, the rest of you sorry motherfuckers are gone as well."

"Your own stress levels will not help your imprint's, Paul," Sam said carefully, eyeing the figure of an enraged wolf clutching his distraught mate. The fear, aggression and rage levels were high, making it impossible to detect where one started and the other began.

"Tell me why I'm stressed! Tell me why I'm clutching a girl, my mate, who is scared beyond fucking belief, to the point that you could choke on the shit and still not even grasp the full amount."

Jacob, silent until now, stepped forward, ignoring the underlying threat noises the wolf within Paul emitted. "Your anger is all wrong. You have every right to be angry, but expressing it in front of Arial only adds to the fear and distrust."

"Blow it out your ass, Baby Alpha. If you weren't here right now, doing absolutely nothing to help, Urchin would still be conscious. Her ass didn't pass out until you two fuckheads marched in here like you had plans."

"Control yourself," Sam snapped, stepping up to take Arial away from Paul. "Her unconsciousness may be a blessing for the moment. We cannot ask her any questions nor read her body language when doing so, but if she is this distressed we wouldn't be able to get a true reading anyways. Hand her here and go outside with Jacob."

"Wrong fucking command," Paul snapped back, lithely jumping to his feet. He'd take out both him and Urchin first before he'd hand her over to the asshole in front of him, Alpha or not. His wolf was not as agreeable to the plan, both chancing another look at her distraught figure.

By now, Paul knew damn well not to even fucking consider leaving his girl alone when she was like this. He also knew damn well he'd stand there forever rather than allow Black to play nursemaid.

"Tell your own bitch to get in here and she can attend to Urchin while we go outside," Paul dictated, throwing up his chin in defiance.

At Sam's narrowed gaze, Paul just snorted. "Whatever. I know she tagged along with you. I can scent her from a mile away and you know it."

With a decisive look to Jake, Sam spun around and went outside to get Leah. He didn't return with her, knowing that as soon as Paul placed Arial wherever, he and Jake would find him.

For the first fucking time Paul could remember, Leah kept her trap shut when she entered his house and followed him into the hallway leading to the bedrooms. His indecisiveness was only a flicker. With a small, unneeded weight adjustment, he walked into his room, and not Urchin's, to place her on the bed.

Back outside, both Jacob and Sam were about as useful as a braille encrusted lawn dart and Paul felt no remorse in sharing his opinion.

"Stop wagging your dicks and go drag those two teenage fuckwits from their houses," Paul suggested, leaning against a tree. Oddly enough, his imprint's scent was all over the place and Paul knew damn well they hadn't been out here to have tea or some shit.

Sam sighed heavily as he kneeled at the base of a tree, examining the ground. "I have spoken to Quil as well. Those two young men are not the ones at fault. He trailed after them for quite awhile before they reached your property and then afterwards once he realized Arial was nearby."

"Yeah, and if it were anyone else, I might accept that explanation," Paul agreed sarcastically. "Except we're talking about the wolf who still thinks the Earth itself speeds up and slows down to account for Daylight Savings Time."

"And if Arial's problem dealt with time travel, I might agree," Sam snapped back. "However, since you seem to think it concerns two people in our community, and since I know who they are and what they are capable of, I'll have to insist that Quil is right this time."

Paul pushed away from the tree, his stance rigid. "I don't give a fuck. I want answers, but more importantly I want someone to answer for the marks on my urchin's body. And before you spit the same shit back in my face, I don't care if she did do it to herself! She sure as shit didn't do it without an audience and those are the fuckers I want!"

"Then make her talk."

Jacob's head whipped around to stare at Sam in surprise. "Holy shit, she can talk! Really?"

"No!"

"Yes," Sam answered quietly over Paul's negative hostility. "At least she did earlier when Paul asked her a question. He had to be somewhat forceful, but she did answer him. She told him she had somehow fallen."

"Fuck you, Uley!" Paul snapped before turning to face Jacob. "And before you can add any stupidity, fuck you, too, Black. She was scared and crying and in fucking pain, and when I yelled, she mumbled a sound that could have been mistaken for a word."

Sam stood up, Jacob doing so as well as the two gave Lahote near identical looks, although Jake's held more surprise than Sam's.

"You thought she had spoken earlier when we were phased."

"I was mind fucked at the time," Paul said, his anger still obvious. "If she did speak, then she'll do it again when she wants to." His eyes narrowed into slits and Paul stepped directly into Sam, one deep exhalation away from touching. "Let me make this real fucking clear. Under no order, no circumstance, or any act of nature will I _force_ Urchin to try and speak. If she did do it, it's her goddamn call and I'll flay the fucker alive who thinks about going behind my back. We clear?"

Unintimidated, Sam stepped into Paul as well, his nerves just as strung out. "You seem to forget that this is not a democracy. My word is ultimate law and if I say so, that is how it will go. Regardless."

"Sam, you can't blame—"

Sam raised his hand in Jacob's direction, still holding eye contact with Paul. "I am tired of telling you to back off, lay off and fuck off, Lahote," he said, his voice calm, level and malicious. "Once you realize we are all on the same side, then you can ask for help. Until then, stay here and think about it." Turning on his heel, Sam indicated that Jacob should follow as well, walking back inside to retrieve Leah and go home.

"It should go without saying," Sam said as an afterthought once Leah was inside their car, "but the only trails you are authorized to track are those made by the cold ones."

Paul watched them all leave, his body already thinking about how to comfort his urchin more while his mind seethed around Sam's parting words. That fucker would drop a load of kibble shaped shits if Paul decided to just up and move him and Urchin away from the Rover rejects.

Quietly this time, he reentered the house, beelining straight for his room and an unconscious Urchin. It wasn't the best of ideas. He was pissed off to hell and back for Uley's bullshit words and commands. Who the fuck did he think he was, giving Paul an order not to seek justice for his mate? It went against every moral grain Paul had. And he should know; he didn't have many morals so when there was one the fucker shone brightly like a beacon.

Then to make the shitty night utterly spectacularly shitty, Jacob had been drug into this shit storm as well. No way would that douche wad keep his jaws closed about the smallest, iffiest, tiniest fucking possibility that Urchin had spoken. His sorry ass hadn't even fucking been there to hear the sounds and he hadn't seen the goddamn memories either! But because the almighty Alpha Sam had spoken, that shit would be taken to the bank like a gold bar.

Paul couldn't decide if he was more angry or more pissed off. One being a focused ass kicking and the other being a broad, generalized, everyone in his path needed to be kicked to death. In a weird fucking way it kinda felt like he was sad when he looked at his poor girl passed out, lying in their bed, but he knew damn well that wasn't possible. Paul Lahote didn't get sad. Obviously everyone just needed a solid ass kicking.

His inner wolf was strangely silent for now, not that Paul needed its hairy ass temper to handle as well. The whine that escaped his lips was all human. He needed to strip his clothes and jump into bed next to Urchin. It was a good goddamn reasonable solution to make something good come from this night. Instead, Paul walked back out into the living room, pulling out the local area phonebook and making notes.

Sam might think he knew most of the people and their ability to either cause or not cause mischief, but Paul had lived here just as long and knew just as much. Shortly after midnight, he had a list of some fifteen or so houses he would be visiting in the next couple of days, just to sniff things out, as it were.

Paul didn't even try to hide the gloating and smirking as he finally crawled into bed with Urchin. Sam's decree had said jack shit about Paul driving around for neighborly visits and who could blame their friendly local werewolf for busting some balls if incidentally one of the neighbors smelled like a recent trail in his own backyard?

This one would be in the bag. Literally, if Paul had anything to say about it.


	29. Chapter 28

A/N: Beta'd by ShadowPast620.

* * *

><p>The greenish gray color of the Pacific waters rose, crested and fell in a harsh pattern during the early morning hours of fog. One of thousands of cities that teemed with life and Carlisle Cullen stared at the water from behind his desk in the penthouse suite overlooking the San Francisco Bay area.<p>

The scenery meant very little to him. It was the prestige of knowing he could afford to own such a place amongst his supposed colleagues that endeared him to living like a human. In any species one could find the upper crust, an aristocratic level as it were. Carlisle Cullen had surpassed that and much, much more.

People only saw what they wanted and in Carlisle they saw a highly successful, slowly aging doctor of compassionate brilliance. Through med-school –the last time being twelve years ago- he had learned to disguise his features, allowing himself to finely age and not be worried about moving from location to location and changing his name constantly. Here in the Bay area he would be able to practice the art of medicinal science for a good thirty to forty years before having to assume a new identity to start the process all over again.

Carlisle smiled at the thought of what his fellow professionals would really think if he told them the truth. Through his heightened senses and through the age of advancement and technology, he could diagnose, treat and cure more patients than any human doctor could.

How embarrassing would it be to the humans to learn that it was their predator who could treat their ailments more effectively? That a creature such as himself could better treat a human than their own kind would send the jealous hatred to new levels. The value of amusement to such a quandary vastly appealed to Carlisle, although others of his own kind felt differently.

The truth of the matter was, he didn't care for his patients on an emotional level. To him, they were the complex puzzle of a form of life, and each new patient brought forth another clue to a never ending game. Carlisle thrived on the challenge. The siren's call of power and prestige was Carlisle's to reap in the human world.

And the real one.

Four hundred and some years had gone by since Carlisle had discovered the real world. In the human world he had been successful as well, or what he had considered a path to success. Had he not been attacked -an irony of blessedness- and transformed into a better, his human life would have been paltry. He knew that now.

Many years of his half-life, being a vampire but not knowing how to exist, were spent in an attempt to find answers, any answers, as to where his new niche lay. A serf for the Kings had found Carlisle and brought him forth. It was during those long and enlightening years of observance that Carlisle was taught and groomed for his role in the real world. His transformation, though an accident punishable by death, had catapulted his status in the real world to a level that few could have foreseen.

Here, on the western coast of America, he had established a complex coven. The Kings, who lived in Italy, still held supreme rule over all vampires, but here in this territory Carlisle's word was law and he alone held the manifested powers to govern. He was a force few dared to reckon with, and those who did, lost.

Carlisle didn't have to look at the ticking hands of a nearby longcase clock to know his associate was running late. In a movement reminiscent of humanity, he relentlessly began to drum his fingers on the desk. The man was supposed to have been here at five a.m. sharp and it was now twenty after.

Very few Nosferatu would dare to anger Carlisle in a disrespectful slap at being late to a meeting. Perhaps he was too lenient with his followers? Living amongst the humans hadn't necessarily softened him- humanity was its own class of malignancy- but from his exposure and profession, Carlisle had learned to curb the out lashings found with most vampires.

He attributed it more to the effect of having not mated. Through the years, very few females had gained his attention and certainly none of them had been worthy enough to be honored the title of his paramour sovereign. Once he found his mate, Carlisle was certain those inner, monstrous behaviors of protection and showing power would be unleashed.

If mated too early during a vampire's life, the couple risked execution since they would lose the concept of secrecy and kill without thought to any nearby human witnesses. The Kings had often entertained themselves thusly, encouraging and sometimes forcing early matings. A strong union was a beautiful sight to behold and the skill required to take a pair down even grander.

Carlisle's sigh of exasperation was heard only by himself in the vast and empty apartment. He had much more important subjects to ponder and resolve other than this morning's meeting. Speaking of matings, had it not been for the lengthy conversation he had been required to have with a neighboring sovereign, this mess would've been cleaned up by now. Or close to being cleaned up and done with.

Jane Moretti was a pain. She called Carlisle monthly to inquire if he had found a worthy mate yet and when told repeatedly he had not, would insist they would be ideal and could merge their territories. As a mated pair, Jane knew their combined lands accounted for more vampires under a single rule. There were so many flaws in her ideas that it was all Carlisle could do not to laugh.

The Three Kings might allow the mating, but Jane wouldn't keep her lands. While she had her own powers there was a structural shift of ultimate power once mated and the female vampire would always remain under the male's protection…and control. Carlisle knew Jane would be aware of the power shift and her loss of status. He wondered if it were a vestigial human longing making its appearance for clearly she did not love him.

In practicality, love did very little for a vampire. Even a mated pair. Respect, desire, lust, possessiveness…those were the coveted emotions. Not affection, kindness or tenderness. Those emotions were weak willed and useless. And the Kings would revel in watching a mated love pair die.

Jane knew all of this, of course. She, like all of the other appointed sovereigns, had visited the Three Kings when Carlisle was there as well, learning his value. It was on their preferred home grounds in Italy where privileges were given and revoked. In a truly Roman fashion most were determined by hand to hand combats. Only a small, select few were decided by other, unknown means. Jane herself had proven her worth in hand to hand.

The King Aro had wanted her to remain at his side after she went one fight further, destroying a mated pair scheduled for entertainment at a later date. Her powers were indeed immense, even Carlisle succumbing briefly to the pain and anguish she had created inside his head. Very few that night had been able to shake her attack and once Carlisle had adapted his deflection, he became enamoured.

She was young, so very young, with the face of a cherub. Barely five foot with a body only beginning to take shape and Carlisle had fallen in lust upon first sight. Her blonde hair was more golden than his own and she spoke softly of her time as a human with sun-kissed skin and honey colored eyes. As a vampire, she still retained a hint of peach hued flesh but her eyes were the brilliant scarlet of any well respected hunter.

Duty had called before any relationship had been explored. The other Kings, Marcus and Caius, had been firm. Jane would one day come back to be by their side. Now, however, she was needed in the new lands of America to govern in their stead a recently explored territory soon to be known as the Louisiana Purchase. Their trusted man, Carlisle, would accompany her for it was rumored there was still a vast area beyond and the Kings needed a strong, loyal and reliable subject to help secure the lands.

Carlisle quickly forgot about his lust during the long trip westward. To say blood was blood would be a misnomer, as he quickly discovered. The new lands held new blood. Some vampires were thrilled with the exotic change and others were disgusted, choosing to return home rather than stay. Carlisle was one who did not enjoy the new flavors as much as one might. There were, of course, always exceptions, a rare bouquet of hemoglobin undeniable in its calling. However, in order to blend in with his surroundings even more convincingly, Carlisle had learned to feed from livestock and wildlife.

With Jane in St. Louis, Carlisle left her and his idea of a relationship behind. He didn't hold too many doubts or regrets about his choice, knowing the longer he continued without a mate the stronger he would grow. Jane was ambitious and would know her mating to Carlisle would only increase her power in the event that he died; a feat both knew she would attempt until successful.

Out loud Carlisle sighed with the merest hint of regret. Jane's vampire life had not aged her body one bit, though, and she had been transformed so young...

So small...

So…perfect!

The female body, before becoming fully ripened was singularly objet d'art. Jane had openly admitted to Carlisle that her life as a human had been brief with only two menses cycles passing before a guardsman had captured and changed her. Carlisle had openly stared at her form, the teasing hint of budding breasts forever frozen in time. He wondered if the flesh of her nipples had ripened as well or if their hue was closer to blush or rouge.

The gowns of the day required young Jane to pad her hips heavily underneath petticoats, giving any viewer the false sense of rounded hips and buttocks. If he had time to only explore, a mere rendezvous or two, and Carlisle knew he would have likewise been rewarded in those features of her as well. Her waist did not slant inwards before rounding out even with the excessive garments. Jane's body would be thin, uncurved...so young...and perfect.

At five thirty nine, the swooshing of elevator doors down the hall could be heard and Carlisle forced himself to stop dreaming of a perfect mate. Dropping his human charade of fidgeting in annoyance, the mask he usually wore slipped away momentarily to reveal the monster he truly was.

"Hello, Carlisle," the associate greeted from afar, making his way into the lush apartment. In the rooms tastefully furnished on a modern deco theme, the voice echoed loudly as if the place were empty. The marbled tiles and reclaimed wooden floorboards were a perfect conductor. Slowly the new man drifted from room to room, without an ounce of urgency to his step while he observed a new painting.

"This piece, Carlisle…it's remarkable."

"The Yoskay Yamamoto? Yes, I was fortunate enough to have unexpectedly popped into an exhibit showing his work last time I visited L.A.," Carlisle said with a hint of pride and momentary distraction. That particular piece of art rather fascinated him. "I like to think of it as 'When Jack met Sally'."

"I thought the pop culture reference was 'When Harry met Sally'?"

"It is. I was referring to Jack Skellington from 'A Nightmare Before Christmas'. It's quite popular. I'm surprised you weren't aware."

The mocking laughter of the guest only further fueled Carlisle's anger. "Forgive me, but I am not as attuned to children's preferences as you are. Have you returned to normal feedings? Perhaps those of the younger variation."

"You're late," Carlisle snapped in return as the guest finally made his way into the office. His preferences were his own and for no one else to judge.

"Obviously not," the man answered his own question, laughing again. "Is that any way to greet me?" At Carlisle's continued frown, he dropped the pleasantries, failing to understand why the trivial was worth this kind of aggravation. "Time means nothing to us, Carlisle. I think you take the act of human too far." Turning his back, the guest stared out at the impressive bay view.

"When I ask you to be here at a specific time, there is a purpose," Carlisle insisted, wondering—not for the first time—if this particular scion had been a mistake. He hadn't created his entire populace, only a few with talents requiring cultivation. This one's talents would be of great value to the Kings and once properly trained and sated in the life of humans, he would gift him to the Kings.

"Off to save another human?" The young man asked mockingly, tracing his finger over the glass, his nail making an incision against the surface before turning to face his questioner. "Seriously, Carlisle, there are billions to be found. I can assure you, one more dead Sapien at the hands of science will not be blamed on you."

"I am not asking you to understand my motivations, Edward. There is a matter of great importance to be discussed. I find it tedious that I need remind you we are not here to contend my preference of attributions in a societal form. Sit down, so I can brief you on your task and we can both be on our way."

Still refusing to comply, the man was not impressed. "So I gathered when you called me at two a.m. yesterday. Really, Carlisle, you of all vampires should know that most humans prefer to sleep at that time. Especially the underage ones," Edward said, followed by a conspiratorial wink. "Why, your rudeness at such an unpleasant hour ruined the poor girl's sleep, although mine was verily a geriatric at the age of twenty two." Edward tsked in disappointment. "But then for you to demand I come rushing over to cater to your whims? One might think your lack of a proper diet has affected your mentality."

"Enough!" The elder male bellowed to Edward, standing up, his hands braced against the desk surface.

Edward stood motionless as his superior advanced on him. He had gone too far and fear flowed quickly.

"It is me alone who allows you such liberties to dine on human flesh," Carlisle seethed, resorting to speak in the Old Tongue. His voice became dangerously high pitched and static sounding. "I say nothing of the games you wish to play with people before draining their life as carelessly as the wind moves leaves."

Centimeters away from his ear now, Carlisle hissed, "It is I who have sired you and per our laws, I have every right to take away your existence should I so choose."

Slowly, Carlisle circled him, far from appeased at the turn of events. "I don't ask much of you, other than to stay away from the notice of human authorities and to report the number of your…transgressions."

With the beguiling tone of vampires, Carlisle spoke like a scorned lover. "If you are so unhappy with this arrangement, I am sure the Volturi would be willing to make room for you with them. Is that what you want, Edward? Would you like to move away from your beloved city of Portland, where you have called home for so long, to go and live in Europe? To have to compete for the Three Kings affections so that you may be allowed to dine more often than three or four times a year?"

Casually, Carlisle flicked away imaginary lint from Edward's sharply creased polo shirt. "Is it that bad, Edward? Am I such a demanding father that you feel the need to anger me about such trivial oddities as to when I call on you or what I do with my own time?"

Any vocalization Edward made during this show of power would end badly for him. He stood as stiffly as the bronzed Sául Hernández figurines positioned on a series of pedestals across the room waiting for his maker to decide his fate. He often teased Carlisle and while this was unexpected behavior for the man, Edward should have realized the severity before he had even entered the dwelling.

Carlisle hissed in warning one last time before he returned to his desk. Resuming his seat he took hold of a pile of documents he had left out to show Edward. "Now please, Edward, be a good boy and sit down," Carlisle instructed softly, all remnants of the power folded and placed behind his mask of normalcy and the use of English once again. "I have some things I wish to show you before you leave. It won't take long and then you can return to your home and continue with your life."

The younger male sat, his leather seat squeaking as his weight crushed it. His sire was very angry, very powerful and could easily do away with him if he so chose. Edward valued his own existence too much to allow that to happen and swallowed any and all remarks he would have otherwise voiced.

"Five months ago a rash of brutal slayings began to appear in the Seattle area. The first reported victims were that of young people out doing whatever they do at midnight hours in such a large city. Anywhere from four to seven people would disappear, the only sign they had been attacked were dropped articles of a personal nature found and splattering of blood."

Picking up the oldest copy of the Seattle Time's sitting in front of him, Carlisle pushed it across the desk to Edward. "That first incident, however, was not connected to later ones until three other similar murders/disappearances had occurred. The fourth incident left behind a crushed hand."

Looking up, Edward studied Carlisle's face, not understanding the significance.

"The article simply said it was crushed, a common enough occurrence for such a brutal slaughtering. What the paper didn't say, and what I looked up through the coroner's report was that it was pulverized. Aside from having five digit-like appendages, it was just a mass of a skin. Every piece of bone, cartilage and tendon had been reduced to dust inside of the skin casing. The skin had not ruptured, torn or even been cut."

Tossing over a few more periodicals, Carlisle continued. "For the next two months, any type of brutal attack was filed away as a similar case, but there was not enough evidence to connect them to the same culprits."

Picking up the heaviest of papers, Carlisle once again tossed it across the desk to Edward. "The authorities went ballistic, trying to solve even one of these murders. It wasn't until a Congressmen's niece went missing that word of these crimes left Seattle and traveled all the way to New York. You can imagine my surprise, while reading the stock exchange from the New York Times, I come across mention of outlandish things occurring so close to home. Six weeks ago the newspapers simply stopped making any type of mention to these crimes, but there is a lot of concern over a depleting homeless population."

"You think they changed their hunting tactics?" Whispering the statement, Edward's hands ghosted over the files.

"For some reason or another, yes, I do."

"You are confident then that these are vampire kills?" Edward asked, waiting for Carlisle to confirm before continuing. "You want me to kill the ones behind this?" he clarified, waving his hand over the numerous papers. Something of this magnitude could easily destroy any clans found on American soil; the Kings would act swiftly and silently.

Carlisle leaned back in his chair, a tactic that was far too humanely discerning for Edward's comfort, and one, that after their earlier confrontation, he would not comment on.

"No. I still believe in a fair trial. I want you to go to Seattle and investigate who the person is. I have no one registered and authorized to live there. Find out who it is and convince them it would be in the best interest of all who is involved that they should come here to report to me. They have thirty days to make an appearance. If I am required to bring them in forcefully…" Carlisle trailed off, sadistic humor pulling at his mouth. "Let it be known that I will not ask twice, Edward. Our life style is not entirely that of a democracy."

"Understood," Edward agreed quietly. He debated the wisdom of pushing Carlisle too far and then decided his next question was fair and worthy of an answer.

"Seattle is a fairly large city, not that far from Portland," Edward began cautiously, watching Carlisle from beneath lowered lids. "Would it be fair to assume you are saving the city for something? Is that why you haven't authorized any vampires to live there?" He looked up to make sure he hadn't crossed any lines in the eyes of his sire.

"Most territories keep one area unpopulated; an untapped resource as it were. When we have important visitors, it allows them a safe and overpopulated area to stay and hunt in. Even if they become sloppy, a visitor does not stay long enough to be caught and the area once again becomes free of our kind to be blamed as suspects," Carlisle explained patiently. Edward's inquiry wasn't odd, but the older vampire felt the need to add caution.

"It's a beautiful city, Edward, and worthy to visit occasionally. But to our kind, the far northwest is also known as our own Bermuda Triangle. Rumors abound of creatures that appear from nowhere if a vampire lives there too long."

Now that the atmosphere was back to the normal friendly feeling Edward was used to, he settled into his chair. "That sounds implausible. We_ are_ atop any and all food chains. Have you ever seen any of these supposed creatures? Who told you these lies and why would you believe that?"

Carlisle studied the young man's face, willing to waste a few more minutes for mere curiosity's sake. Edward's power, while impressive, was not strong enough to overtake his sire's and it drove the young man crazy.

"I don't have to experience nightmares firsthand to know they exist," Carlisle said, his manner still placid. "You are, of course, aware of the destruction of the úlfur?

"Werewolves!" Edward scoffed in disbelief. "That craze was dealt with long ago. If they remained, the Three Kings would have them exterminated in the same fashion as before."

"Very well they would have," Carlisle agreed. "But what if they changed? Developed into something unrecognizable?"

Edward stared at him blankly, either unable or unwilling to believe Carlisle. The elder did not want to take the time to explain the obvious and instead moved on with the discussion. "The tales, fables, folklore, legends, whatever you choose to call them were here long before I ruled this land. At first, I was too busy to investigate or take much stock in the matter. Then it seemed more of an advantage." Carlisle smiled widely. "Who would want to challenge for lands that are haunted or could be detrimental to one's existence?"

"Some might say it makes you look weak," Edward said without thinking. His entire body stiffened when he realized he had just insulted his sire for the second time in one visit.

"Some might," Carlisle agreed, not offended in the slightest. "And if anyone wanted to prove otherwise, they would first have to move there and prove otherwise."

"But then why do you want me to find the vampires living there now?"

"Because," Carlisle answered with another winsome smile, "I wouldn't want anyone to think I was weak or an inattentive ruler."

Edward sat wide mouthed and watched as Carlisle gathered the paperwork they had studied before filing it away in the desk and locking the drawer.

"Thank you, Edward, for your participation in handling this otherwise delicate situation," Carlisle acknowledged politely, ever the diplomat. "Now, it is late and I must be on my way. Will you be leaving as well?" The blond vampire arched one elegant eyebrow in question as Edward debated the best course of action.

Edward could leave now, in a car and be close to his destination by nightfall. However, he hadn't brought his vehicle for the visit to Carlisle and having to go out and rent some misused, lower class car was revolting. He would be better off to wait and travel by foot.

"No. With this much attention from the police already, I feel it would be best to keep as low a profile as possible. With your permission, I will wait until tonight and then leave."

Standing up, Carlisle gave him a friendly, closed mouth smile. "Very good. I am due in Reno today at eleven a.m. for a consultation and then staying on for the next three days to give a lecture. You are free to wait here if you wish." With a mock showing of patting his pockets to look for keys he knew he had, Carlisle played his human persona to the fullest. He spoke suddenly as if he had just remembered. "Although, I must ask that you be gone by tomorrow morning. Juanita will be stopping by then to clean and it would be unseemly for her to find you here."

"Why?" Edward asked, cracking a smile and making sure his voice was only teasing and not mocking. "Do you worry that she might think you have a fondness for men?"

"Not all, boy. I worry that you might try to eat her and good help is so very hard to find." With that, Carlisle left his apartment in a hurry, hoping to avoid the early rush hour traffic.


	30. Chapter 29

A/N: Je m'excuse pour mes pauvres traductions françaises. Merci pour la revue. Je mets à jour quand je peux.

If Hurricane Arthur doesn't huff, puff, blow my house down tonight, I'll post another chapter this weekend sometime. Stay safe and don't poke out any eyes with hot dog sticks or fireworks this 4th of July.

* * *

><p>Jared bolted upright in bed, feeling a sharp piercing drilling into his side. What the fuck was attacking him? His hand swept the area, realization dawning quickly when the source of pain was attached to a hand. He wasn't being bitten by a bug; it was the pointy end of Kim's fingernail pressing into his stomach. "What? What is it?"<p>

"The phone," she mumbled into her pillow as she rolled closer to Jared, huddling into his side for warmth.

The…phone? His girlfriend-soon-to-be-fiancée was stabbing him to death because the phone was ringing? What the-

"It's on your side," Jared grumbled back, still trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

"Not a morning person," Kim replied in one long breath that ended in a soft snore.

Rubbing his face with his hands, Jared rolled/pushed up over his sleeping mate, collapsing on her side of the bed while Kim snuggled even further down into the heated spot he had just left. He answered the phone, still mostly asleep and not even entirely certain he was actually awake.

"Jared," he announced in lieu of saying hello. Why was it his job to answer the phone? It wasn't on his side of the bed. What happened to equality of the sexes? Was the middle of the night the best time to ask philosophical questions like this?

"Jared?" A male repeated, sounding as if he wasn't sure he knew who he had called.

"Cameron," Jared clarified with his last name to the caller, trying to focus on the here and forget about the world of sleep. The other voice sounded familiar, but this conversation was messed up for taking place at…

Jared unnecessarily squinted towards a small clock hanging on the wall. Kim refused to keep an alarm clock in their room and if Jared had to be up early, he usually just used his cell. The small wall clock had been etched from a tree and was a family heirloom his parents had given them as a housewarming gift. It currently announced the time being a little after five in the morning.

"Jared?" The voice asked again, this time snippily.

"Man, it is too fucking early for this shit on Halloween. Ha ha, trick's on me. Don't call back!" Jared went to hang up when the person spoke again.

"Stop fucking around, Jared," the voice fast sounding like Jacob demanded. "I need you to get up and help me collect Paul."

"Fuck, it's five in the morning. Are you kidding me?" Jared did the face rub again, this time one handed. He was envious Kim could sleep through all of this. Although, if he had just slept through the poking, he, too, could be blissfully unaware.

"No, Sam just called," Jacob answered in a tone the pack had come to use collectively as Paul's-fucked-us. "An elder called Sam to ask why Lahote was out ringing doorbells at four thirty in the morning, talking about signing up their young men for tactile training."

"What the fuck?"

"Exactly! He's been to various houses on the Rez and one we know of in Forks, but not in any clear or easy path to follow. Sam's pissed and, of course, Paul isn't answering his phone."

"Lucky bastard," Jared muttered, semi-serious. If only he could've ignored the phone. "Are you sure he isn't just pulling a Halloween prank?"

"Paul doesn't pull shit unless the person is there firsthand to see it and none of places he's been are people of interest for him to prank. Sam and I have an idea of who might be on the list, but do you know if he's pissed at any one in particular?"

"Aside from the entire world? Nope, don't have a clue."

"Right. So get your ass up and help out. You need to make it quick and drive out to Forks. Start out on the old road and then head towards the highway."

Looking at a sleeping Kim reminded Jared of what was really at stake. Aside from the usual terror and horror Paul could inflict on the unsuspecting. "Is Arial with him?"

Jacob gave a short bitter laugh. "No idea. Sam asked Elder Pine and the man asked Sam if he often checked out the cars of people ringing their doorbells before the first eye blinding ray of sun."

"So probably a 'no' then, huh?"

"Does it matter?"

"No, it won't make a difference either way." Jared sighed tiredly. It was an important issue, but either way they'd have to stop Paul. "Check-in in forty?"

"Yep," Jacob agreed before hanging up.

Sighing in resignation, Jared fumbled with the receiver and crawled out bed. Man, leave it to Paul to pull some shit on the day of the pack's Halloween party. It sucked that it wasn't Paul who had gotten the red jellybean because Jared was sure everyone would have preferred that.

* * *

><p>"And you have a pleasant fucking day as well, you drunk hillbilly pissgoat," Paul muttered to the raving lunatic waving a gun on the front porch he was parked in front of. The bitch didn't even know the fucking thing wasn't loaded, or if he did then he was a lying sack of shit since he'd just spent the last two minutes telling Paul where he was going to shoot him.<p>

House number eleven and Paul still hadn't gotten a whiff of the scent he remembered from his yard a couple of weeks ago. Of course, it had been snow-raining like a motherfucking bitch since then and even with his kick ass wolf senses, enough water would fuck over the best of sniffers. That and his inner pansy wolf hadn't allowed the inner aggressive wolf to leave Urchin's side for the past two weeks. Fourteen days was way too fucking long for an effective witch hunt; Paul would just have to wing this shit.

The gears of his jeep ground loudly and painfully as he tried to punch into third and Paul eased back off, muttering a nonsensical comment of affection as he rubbed the steering wheel in comfort. He knew Sam would be on his ass shortly if he wasn't already which was why he was driving across the damn county like a drunk Girl Scout, no obvious pattern for anyone looking.

He had three more 'most likely' homes to visit before he was left with the last five "better check just in case it's a surprise Ace-bitch". Paul didn't think those punks who had fucked over his Urchin would be one of the aces, but it was better to scare the shit out of innocents rather than let the guilty go free.

Throwing it into four wheel drive, Paul gripped the steering wheel tightly, navigating down a small incline that most others would call a sheer cliff drop. It wasn't, but anything with angles sharper than forty five degrees probably felt like a drop to the average pussy driver. The struts belched loudly, the metal hissing, telling Paul his vehicle wasn't exactly in its prime for these unplanned neighborhood outings.

The next house appeared suddenly and incidentally from its backside since Paul hadn't taken the obvious road of approach. In the event Sam caught up to him, he really fucking hoped the ass didn't comment about Mr. Everstone's now slightly trail marked garden.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Jacob hissed from the darkness, reaching out to grab Paul as he exited his jeep. "Sam is super pissed, asshat, all thanks to you."

"Awesome!" Paul answered. "Now that you've delivered that riveting message, get the hell away from me. I think I smell guilt in the air and need to deliver some forgiveness." He sped up, dodging Jake's hand by the barest of distances. This was definitely a house of interest, his wolf was gearing up just underneath the surface.

"The only thing you smell is the stench of teenage boys doing normal things they do." Jake dove himself forward, landing on Paul's back. The weight pulled both of them off of the steps he had just climbed to the house, landing them in a jumbled mess on the walkway.

"They were there, that was something," Paul spat, trying to twist Jake off of him. The two struggled violently, crushing more of poor Mr. Everstone's greenery. Paul figured the man would blame his delinquent teenage son and that it would be a start to a fitting punishment for punk number one.

"Stop it, you dick! If you had answered your phone you'd fucking know I was here about Arial," Jake wheezed when Paul delivered a lucky shot to his ribs.

Not even a colliding meteor could've stopped Paul faster than someone mentioning the possibility of his Urchin being in a bad place.

"What the fuck?" Paul hollered. "Shit, stop fucking around and get off of me, ass. I need to go home!" A kip-up, bounce and hop and Paul was back inside his jeep, peeling away from the house and back on his way to home. He knew where his victim lived now and could deal with the ass at regular intervals.

Jacob stayed lying on the ground, his eyes closed and happy the intervention had gone as smoothly as it had. He didn't know what Sam was going to say to Mr. Everstone and was glad he didn't have to deal with shit like that.

"Mind telling me why you're crushing my prized orchids, Mr. Black?" A sleepy and pissed off voice yelled at Jake, probably from an upstairs window judging by the echo.

Jake tried not to groan as he was confronted by an irritated homeowner. If Sam didn't doubly ream Paul a new one for this, he sure as shit would later. It might actually be the first time one of the pack parties turned into a real blood bath.

* * *

><p>Paul laughed like a crazy assed old coot driving back to his house. Did Jacob and the gang really think he could be such a pussy? That he would roll over like a kicked dog that easily? He knew damn well Urchin was safe and secure back at his house. Knew it like he did the back of his hand. There would've been an alarm howl if any shit had gone down, not some puppet hunting party.<p>

Still, the knowledge that he knew he was right, didn't stop Paul from speeding just a little bit more and rolling down the window to check out the local scents for any bloodsucking monsters. Just in case.

"Fuck," he muttered under his breath, pulling into his driveway. "Well, well, well, we meet again, Alpha," Paul called out sarcastically, approaching the looming figure on his doorstep. Sometimes Paul thought they could've both saved a lot of fucking time if he had just built himself a doghouse in Uley's backyard.

"Why do you insist on trying to challenge every damn thing I say?"

Was it supposed to be a trick question? "Because you say the most fucking dumbass things," Paul threw back. Sam should've been able to answer that in his sleep.

"No, Paul, I say things that you want no part of and pretend aren't true or helpful."

"Well, it wasn't helpful and by doing it my way, I now know whose ass I need to bust for hurting my girl."

Sam blinked in confusion. "Jacob said you didn't have a chance to speak to David. How do you know he hurt Arial?"

"I could smell it," Paul answered, tapping his nose. "Speaking of which, you gotta leave. I can smell Urchin waking up."

"Cut the crap, Lahote. I've been waiting here for the better part of an hour and nothing has changed; scent, sound or sight wise."

"I already had to put down pretty boy Black today, Alpha. Don't make me give you a beating, too."

For once it was Sam who made an aggressive move first. His approach to Paul was fast and unexpected, Sam's hand making a hard impact into the man's shoulder as he shoved him backwards off of his feet. "We are pack, Paul. Pack! That means one leader and a trail of compliant followers."

"I don't need this shit this fucking early, Uley!"

"How the fuck do you think I feel when a tribal elder calls me at four thirty, telling me once again that one of our Guardians is up to shit and that I need to take care of it?" Sam slammed his hand back into Paul's shoulder, pushing him into the house wall again. Paul bared his teeth, the wolf rising quickly.

"Bring it on," Sam taunted. "I will happily beat the shit out of _you _right here, right now. And even if by some odd twist of fate you manage to kill me, you still wouldn't inherit the leadership nor would it dissolve the unity of the pack except to kill you for turning on one of your own."

Paul's rage had nowhere to go, the anger bursting through his skin in a wave of snapping bones and fur. Likewise, Sam shifted on the spot as well, both men throwing their bodies off of the porch while the changes happened.

Paul's shifting had not been a challenge to Sam in and of itself; however, the leader took the opportunity to exert his force. The black wolf's muzzle snapped audibly around the hind quarter of the silver one, a quick yelp with a long drawn out growl of pain following.

_You can either wear the bruises for a few hours or I can break your leg and you can bear the burden for a few days,_ Sam communicated, his teeth still fully impaling a leg.

_Concede,_ Paul answered his wolf part detached from his human part. He could care less what the furry side of him was doing; the human side of him was listening to the fact that Urchin was awake now, no doubt from Uley's shoving. Her movements were still sluggish, but increasing in speed, suggesting she was looking for Paul.

The Alpha was not so easily pacified with Paul's answer. _No! I'm not letting go until you fully commit to your obedience. _

Paul hesitated, his mind still focused on where his girl was and what might be happening.

_Arial will come out here and discover us like this if you want. _It was more fact than threat. Sam knew Arial would never be fully adjusted to their lifestyle until she learned Paul's secret. If that time happened to coincide with now, so be it.

What Sam didn't know, or care about, was that this one issue Paul knew all the fuck about and could guarantee the outcome were it to happen right know. Without any prep time, or backup plans, his girl would freak the fuck out and be traumatized for life. Like she fucking needed any more mental baggage. Urchin wouldn't have a fucking clue that the pair of Hell hounds on the porch were good guys.

_Fine, I give!_ Paul seethed, trying to focus only on Alpha Sam. _Tell me what I need to do to end this right now._

_Full compliance, Paul. I don't want to have to reign you in every damn time you feel an injustice has been committed against Arial._

_You want me to cut off my dick right now, too? Come on, Uley, you have got to give me a suggestion I even have a chance in hell of accomplishing._

Sam's wolf stared at Paul's. There was no quarter given in the grip he had on the leg, but the eyes moved shrewdly. If Sam had been able to control Paul earlier, he would've already done so. There was a limit to what could be asked of him, but Sam had to have some control as well.

_I don't want anything like this incident to happen again, Paul. And I don't mean an exact replica of you trying to scare the hell out of local teenagers; I mean your drive to purposely always go behind my back and trying to skirt around the rules I have set. _

Sam mentally pushed against Paul, the leader laying out terms for his follower. Paul was to hold back specifically on incidents concerning his girl unless there was an immediate threat to loss of life or limb. Sam wouldn't try to control most of Paul's impulsive rants and rages, only the ones that could conceivably hurt the tribe or pack as a whole.

_So basically I'm to listen to you and you promise not to tell me I can't punch Fuller in the junk when he mouths off or tip over Quil's car because he loses a bet?_

_Fucking hell! _Sam stated, seeing an unknown incident of car tipping. Relaxing his jaw, the black wolf backed away. _I accept those stipulations as long as you guys don't do any of that type of shit off of La Push. You need to remember, though, this is my last warning._

This certainly wasn't the first time Paul had heard about 'last warnings' and he knew damn well it wouldn't be the last.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Urchin," Paul greeted his worried imprint, an old sheet wrapped around his lower half. Fucking Uley and his shitty ass timing, wanting to play King of the Hill this morning. Another tremor of anger raced through his body and Paul could see Arial flinch in uncertainty. She was scared shitless and didn't know it was because Paul's furry self was still very much in attack mode. Not to her, but in general.<p>

She looked at his choice of covering, an odd expression appearing.

"Yeah, I, uh, ruined my clothes and didn't want to shock the shit out of you by bouncing on in here naked."

_Liar, liar, fuckface!_ his wolf reminded him. Paul could care less about swinging his dick in front of anyone, especially his imprint! There was, thank fucking god, still a small part of him to realize that if he entered their sleeping place naked and fully charged, a bed tackle would take place and…well, no need to finish what would definitely happen after that.

Urchin didn't shy away from his comment. She also didn't look down and kept her eyes on his face. Paul was okay with that, walking over to his dresser to pull out a pair of jeans. Urchin let out a weird noise and he spun around quickly, almost dropping the fucking sheet.

She was practically right on fucking top of him, or behind him, and Paul reared up, startled at the closeness.

"It's nothing," he said softly, realizing she was staring in horror at the product of Sam's mark of dictatorship love. The blood from his wound was minimum, the wounds sealed, but still raw, deep and covered in bruise colorations.

Damn him for wearing the fucking sheet like a miniskirt and not like a robe. He was no doubt flashing his ass like a Kardashian at a club. Urchin looked like she wanted to puke and Paul had no idea what to do.

"I…I went outside, see, and…fuck!" Paul couldn't lie to her about his whereabouts. Fuck it, he shouldn't have to anyways, but telling the poor girl he was just bit by some huge ass wolf would scare the shit out of her. Probably more than his wound itself, although Paul wasn't too sure about that. He knew jack shit about female's tolerance to flesh wounds. As a general basis he just assumed it was low.

His mental ponderings halted upon seeing Urchin turn and head for the bathroom. Man, she was gonna puke, he knew it and tried to drop his mini-sheet and pull on jeans at the same time so he could…well so he could do fucking something. Not like a chick needed help puking, that was pretty much a solo sport.

Either Paul wasn't as fast as he had thought or Urchin was faster than he had judged because she came back out of the bathroom clutching a tube, wet washcloth and Band-Aids. The lack of his speed merely highlighted the fact that she was met with a naked Paul. His dick was the first to salute her quick return.

"Umm," Paul hedged before his mind came back. "Fuck, urchin! I'm sorry. My ass should be covered and I was fucking trying to get dressed to help you, but damn, you're quick and…," He trailed off. That was fucking insulting, wasn't it? Telling a chick she was fast? It sure as shit was when a chick said it to a guy! "Well, I don't know about that since we haven't done anything. You did, though. You tried to and I stopped you and…what the fuck am I saying?" Paul slowed to a mumble.

Urchin wasn't even really paying attention to him, her stare still fixed on his…Oh, hell yeah! She was staring at his junk and didn't look the least bit fucking afraid or intimidated. Of course she hadn't that first time either so maybe he was actually doing her a favor. Fuck he needed to stop thinking with his dick, but this morning wasn't about to be day one of that task.

The sheet, his pants, what fucking day or time it was were all forgotten to the over excited man as his girl walked up to him without fear. Pau had never been shy a day in his life and it sure as shit wasn't about to start now.

"You want to touch me?" he asked in a husky voice. "You can touch me anyway you want or need to, Urchin," he said, damn near biting his tongue in half so as not to add the word 'please' with a double exclamation point.

Paul already knew his dick had taken over and that his brain was resting in some far off, unimportant place. Even his wolf seemed to be somewhere else, only his dick leading the senses for what he hoped was about to be the first of many dreams to come true. It took him more than a normal amount of recognition time to realize she wasn't feeling up his dick or even thinking about it. She was trying to clean his wound.

"Motherfucker!" He yelled out in complete surprise and disappointment that he tried to hide. It worked, Urchin thought she had only hurt him and her swipes with the washcloth on his upper thigh became softer, not that they had been rough to begin with.

"You don't have to do that, Urchin," he tried again. It sure as shit didn't help matters that he was still using his sex voice, although that was clearly off the table this morning. And fuck it, the idea of table sex with his Urchin wasn't helping either!

She seemed oblivious to his thoughts and if she knew how fucking horny he was—and really, you'd have to be dead not to notice it—she was doing an admirable job of pretending otherwise. She had finished wiping away the stains of red, her finger liberally coated in the ointment Sue had given them a few weeks for her.

Paul tried not to groan as his mind stayed in the gutter while she attended to his wounds. When she was done her embarrassment came right back and Paul couldn't help but chuckle as he really pulled on his jeans this time.

"No need to be shy, Urchin. I'm perfectly comfortable without anything on and there's no reason to be embarrassed, okay?"

Her back was turned to him, but she nodded in understanding. Paul could damn well feel her blush, though. It would probably take more than one or two showings before she was comfortable with his nudity. Not that he had any fucking clue how to address that issue. Most chicks in his presence stripped themselves before stripping him.

"You can turn around now. I'm dressed," he said, watching Urchin clutching the washcloth tightly in her hands. The realization of what she had done hit him hard.

His girl had been scared for him. Not because of him or because she thought she was in danger but because she had seen wounds on him. Urchin didn't know shit about being a wolf; that his wounds were literally nothing more than a scratch. Even if he hadn't been so busy ho-humming about the state of his dick, he wouldn't have noticed any pain associated with her would-be helpful treatment. For fuck's sake, he had allowed her to sticker his leg with Band-Aids.

Paul scooped her up without thought, hugging her tightly to his chest. Didn't fucking matter Band Aids were for sissies; his girl had feelings for him!

"Thank you for taking care of me, Urchin. It means a fucking lot to me," Paul mumbled into her neck. He damn near melted when she hesitantly returned his hug, her narrow arms wrapping around his neck with the slightest of pressures.

He pulled back to stare in what he hoped wasn't a dopey ass expression but probably was. "I'm fucking starved. What do you say to breakfast at McDonald's?"

Her acceptance was slow, the nod one of either confusion or uncertainty and probably both.

"Not there, we'll just go through the drive thru and come back here," Paul clarified. That fucking did it, his girl smiling truthfully this time as she tried to squirm down to get ready. He gave her one more squeeze of appreciation before leaving her be. He sure as fuck hoped Sam's party tonight went a lot fucking smoother and that the almighty Alpha wasn't forced to turn a blind eye while Paul pounded the shit out of one the pack's dumbasses. The odds were not in his favor.

Bella thought it was weird that her Paul had hurt himself early this morning. She didn't think she was a heavy sleeper -she better not be turning into one, that could be deadly for an Undergrounder- but if he had an accident that caused a wound like the one she had cleaned, why hadn't she heard him yell?

Then when she had cleaned it, he had seemed surprised and something else. She knew what the something else was and was bothered that she hadn't acted upon it. She didn't need to be with him like that, but it wouldn't be bad if she was. The Paul man had certainly looked like he wanted her to touch him in a more personal way, but he had looked that way the first time, too. Bella chewed on the edge of her lip as she tried to recall a time when she wasn't supposed to take care of a man's urges.

"What are you thinking about so intensely over there?" Her Paul man asked from the driver side of his vehicle. Immediately Bella's cheeks bloomed in color and her eyes fell to the bag of food she was holding.

"That good, huh?" he teased her. "That's okay, Urchin. One of these days you'll tell me all of your secrets and I bet it'll be my turn to blush."

He probably would, Bella thought sadly. She missed the way his smile turned into a grimace as her mood changed and soured the cab. He didn't pester her anymore and kept giving her blank looks when they got home and went inside to eat. She started to walk to the table to set the bags down when she was instructed otherwise.

"Not there, Urchin. We're going to eat in the living room, so we can watch a movie."

Changing direction, Bella did as instructed, carefully unpacking the bags and wondering why there was a French-fry in the bottom. Turning the bag upside down, she shook it to make sure there weren't any more hidden fries and then wondered where it should go. She could hear the fridge opening and closing and a lot of bad words through the sounds of cabinet doors opening and closing and decided to just eat the lone fry. Paul finally joined her, caring a mug and a glass.

"Shit, sorry, Urchin. You could've started without me. The fucking coffee pot took forever," Paul explained, giving her a quick smile before grabbing one sandwich for each hand and sniffing both of them. "You want ham, sausage or bacon?"

Bella didn't really care, they all smelled good, so she simply held out her hand and randomly pointed to one. He slid it down the table and it came to a perfect stop directly in front of her. He ate with his usual speed, purposely saving the last sandwich until he was sure Bella didn't want it.

She tried not to frown when breakfast was over and once again she had nothing to store away for her hidden supplies. True, she was always allowed to eat until she was full and would never have to walk away hungry from meal here. It wasn't only about the food like Bella had first thought. Even if given a constant supply of meals while living in the Underground, there wouldn't be a warm house, clean clothes, comfortable beds, or even the simpler things like easy access to a toilet and shower.

There wouldn't be a Paul man.

The idea of not having him around bothered Bella most of all. She liked when he held her or sat next to her, even holding his hand eased Bella in a way she couldn't figure out. She had seen thousands of couples together in the city, people like her and the Paul man holding hands, sharing food and talking.

He hadn't said anything about that night he had lost his temper and she had choked out a single word. Heck, Bella wasn't even sure if he had understood her. The few words she had spoken out loud in the past rarely sounded the same as the people around her. The monsters had known, but Bella was pretty sure one of them had been able to read her mind.

Before she had tried to steal that Jared person's wallet, Bella never would have imagined herself with a man. She was forced to be in the company of some, but not like she was with her Paul. He didn't demand things of her. He didn't hurt her. He sometimes scared her senseless, but she was mostly confident she'd be safe and even if he hurt her it would be okay. She'd take it and then make sure she didn't anger him that way again.

Still, would her Paul man really want someone like Bella? What could she offer him that compared to what he did for her? She didn't know how to cook or run the machines in the kitchen. She tried to watch him wash the clothes, but the basement was still a rather scary place. By the time she convinced herself to follow him down, he'd be on his way back upstairs, the machine already turned on and running.

He had gone outside last weekend and Bella followed to see what she might be able to help with. However, he'd gone into a small building and pulled out a lawn mower. Between the noise and the knowledge that there were spinning blades, Bella had cowered on the porch until the Paul man had pushed it into the front yard. That was all it had taken to convince Bella she couldn't help the Paul man outside and maybe she could wash a counter or fold a blanket inside the house, away from the scarier appliances. Her sigh of disappointed frustration gained her Paul man's attention, his head popping up suddenly and focusing all of his attention away from the breakfast crumbs and onto Bella.

"You okay, Urchin?" He asked, wiping off whatever crumbs remained on his hands. Inspecting his fingers first he then reached over for Bella's hand, giving it a squeeze. Even after Bella squeezed back to reassure he kept hold of her hand, a double meaning of warmth swirling within Bella delightfully.

"So, I know you already saw it, but Leah said you kinda fucking liked it and that we should watch it together. Whaddya say?" With his free hand, the Paul man reached way over to the opposite side of the couch, grabbing the black box that turned on the TV. He had really long arms and Bella was surprised he hadn't caught her that first day they had met. Her jacket had been torn because he had tried to grip it, but if he had actually grabbed her arm, she would've been pulled back above ground right then.

The screen lit up, a familiar melody increasing in volume as Bella waited to see what the movie was. Her heart felt like it stopped and left when the cartoon figure of a girl in a yellow dress appeared. That was the character who had almost the same name as Bella: Belle. She, too, had to live with monsters. Well, just one monster and a nice one at that, but still. Bella's panicked eyes rose quickly to see her Paul man staring at her. He looked sad.

"Okay, so I know you don't like this movie," Paul said with soft compassion. "Either that or you're having a damn heart attack, but you smell like the wrong kind of fucking panic for that."

Bella had no idea what to make of his comments, nor did she really think about the oddness of the words. For whatever reason he knew she didn't want to watch this and she knew he was going to make her regardless. Her Paul man was smart. Bella knew he'd pick until he had it all figured out.

Bella sat rigid the entire time the movie played, her eyes fixated on a movie she wasn't watching but could hear vividly. Every time the name 'Belle' was said it was her Paul man who would shift or jerk in his seat. He never let go of her hand, though, and in fact tried to comfort her more, his thumb moving softly across her palm.

Her Paul man must be even smarter than she had first thought. The movie didn't play for very long before the picture froze and he picked her up to sit on his lap. The question she feared most, but would happily answer for her Paul, was exactly what he asked first. Sort of.

"Is that your name, Belle?" Paul asked gruffly. Fuck, it was a pretty name for his girl and she sure as shit looked like a Disney character, all pretty cheekbones and ghost white skin. Hell, she'd been living on the goddamn streets so she probably had a dead parent and evil step sister as well. The pack of hyenas he called pack would never let him live this shit down. Not in a million fucking years.

Despite the slow shaking of a 'no' from his urchin, Paul was not to be deterred. "Are you lying?" He asked, his voice still creepy sounding even to his own ears.

"I don't get it, Urchin. It has to be your name or the damn name of someone you know who was important to you. Is that it?"

In a surprise action, his girl grabbed his face with both of her hands, eyes locked intently on his while she continued to shake her head no. Her heart rate was way too fucking high to be normal, her palms sweaty, but her intense gaze told Paul he best be fucking quick at guessing.

"Is Belle the name of someone you know, anyone? Is it someone who hurt you? Was it the name of some shitter back in Seattle? Your mom? Your sister? Stepsister? Cousin? Aunt? Grandma? Fuck, was it the name of your cross dressing drag Uncle/father/brother/cousin/friend?" Paul asked quickly, not bothering to slow down. His urchin just kept shaking her head and he felt like he had to lay it all out until she could…

"Belle," he said slowly, watching as she froze her head. "You said your name isn't Belle. Were you hurt by a bell, is that why you won't talk? Maybe your hearing's fucked up or some shit?" Paul asked in desperation. Was it tied together? Was that the fucking missing link that would unravel this shit party?

He didn't know what to make of it. Urchin wasn't moving, wasn't shaking yes or no. She just sat there staring at him with large sad eyes.

"Were you hit by a bell?" He tried again. "Did someone ring a loud bell and it hurt your ears?" Her answers were a constant 'no', but every time he said the fucking word 'bell' her body stats went bat shit crazy, his inner wolf about to fucking piss himself in anxiety.

"Bell, bell, bell," Paul said slowly, waiting for the fucking answer to light up in front of him. "Does a bell –a ringing, tinkling, gonging motherfucker- have anything to do with this?"

Again, another 'no'. At least he could stop with the crazy ass ideas of some maniacal forefather wearing a white wig and hitting his girl with a brass bell or a diaper ass sumo fucker using Urchin's head as a mallet. He could probably scratch off deranged pirates with ship horns off the list, too.

Paul also needed to fucking focus. Her reasoning, ability or inability to talk was not the current issue at hand. It might be tied into her name, in some weird fucking way, but one damn crisis at a time, fuck you very much.

"Does your name rhyme with Belle? Dell, Shell, Kell, Mel, Tel, hell, fucking Zell?" Paul asked in exasperation. He shouldn't fucking be. Every question he asked might be getting a no answer, but it also told him he was correct. Her body didn't respond at all to his crazy ass mofo ideas. Although, it could be because they _were_ crazy ass mofo ideas. He was an idiot.

"Does your name have Belle in it?" Paul asked offhandedly. He nearly dropped Urchin when her 'no' turned into a 'yes', and her hands that were still gripping his cheeks squeezed in excitement. "Holy fucking shit! Is it…what names have Belle?" His mind went blank upon seeing the hopefulness in her eyes. He was on the right damn track and for the life of him, couldn't think of a single fucking name that had Belle in it.

Like most thought processes, Paul's hurtled back into his head at the rate of a werewolf hitting a mountain. How the fuck could he have forgotten the day they sat outside and he had narrowed down that her name began with the letter B. If her name started with that letter and it also had Belle in it, there couldn't be very many fucking names it really was, could there?

"I'll be right back," Paul said, standing up quickly, his urchin still in his lap. He had meant to set her down but like all mind fucks went, she was toted along as he walked over to a bookshelf near the front door. There, on top, was the notebook Leah had brought over filled with pages and pages of names.

'Look," Paul said as he sat back down on the couch like his girl hadn't moved with him, "this binder has a fuck ton of names in it. I'm gonna go to the B section and then you can, wait!"

Paul had flipped to the B section with the idea of having Urchin point out her name. It suddenly occurred to him that if she couldn't read, she'd feel real fucking shitty for his dumb ass pointing that out to her like she needed the reminder. Fuck, though, the only way to be absolutely fucking sure would be to ask point blank. God, he hated fucking rational logic at times.

Like a pussy, he made sure Urchin was facing forward, away from him so he couldn't see her face when he asked, "Can you read, Urchin? Would you know what your name looked like if it was printed?"

Paul knew without a shadow of any fucking doubt that he'd rather cut off his nuts with rusty toenail clippers one small snip at a time rather than get a whiff of the devastating scent of Urchin's defeat. Her shoulders slumped and her head drooped forward as she slowly shook it no to indicate that she couldn't read. He felt like a dick for even bothering with that shit and not doing the obvious, pain free approach.

"Belen, Belicia, Belinda, Belisma, I've never fucking heard anyone called these, Belita, Bella, fuck!" Paul yelled when his urchin slapped her hand on the book. Her body chemistry was emitting more craziness and Paul knew he had hit the fucking jackpot.

Nobody moved for the next few minutes, both Paul and Urchin shaking for different reasons. Paul's excitement was to the point where he fucking knew if he didn't pull back, or out as the situation usually called for, he was going to come hardcore. Despite Urchin's excitement stemming from an entirely different fucking reason, Paul's dick was presently hard enough to be a skyscraper.

"It was one of those, wasn't it?" he finally whispered into her ear, leaning over Urchin's shoulder where he had been reading the names from. Her soft nod prompted the delivery of a sweet kiss to her earlobe. This was fucking huge and oddly, rather intimate, Paul was discovering. Her real name would be a huge fucking deal and he wanted her to know how special the event was.

"I'm going to start again, backwards" he whispered, slowly moving her hand away from the covered words. "Because it would be an incredible honor to know your name and I can tell you want me to know as well. Are you ready?"

Only one name fell from Paul's lips: Bella. The read of her senses told him immediately that was her name and he felt empowered and graced to know. He already knew she was a beautiful girl, his girl, and now he knew for a fact she had a beautiful name to go with it.

However, Bella would always be his urchin, the adorable critter he had saved and who was slowly saving him as well. Now he needed to go fucking excuse himself to take care of his raging cock.


	31. Chapter 30

A/N: Beta'd by ShadowPast620.

* * *

><p>Like most holidays celebrated in America, whatever religious or ceremonial aspect the Quileutes might have once held were mostly forgotten, especially to the young generation and significant others presently gathered at Sam and Leah Uley's house.<p>

Most of the guys were out back at Sam's place, the yard strung with miniature lights meant to look like fictional monster eyes. A roaring fire filled a deep pit at the very back of the property line and random tables sat around, holding the many numerous snacks and foods people had brought. A fog machine had been set up as well, giving the place a fun but eerie feeling perfect for the holiday.

"Why aren't you ready yet?" Quil ribbed Brady, smirking at the look of reprehension from the honored. He gulped heavily from his red plastic cup of beer. Even werewolves could get drunk, although they didn't stay that way for long. Part of tonight's events always included setting up sleeping tents to prevent any possible alcohol related accidents. Even Sam and Leah would stay outside to be a part of the group.

The only exception this year would be Emily and Embry. Due to her pregnancy it had been decided she should probably sleep inside, out of the cold and closer to a bathroom.

"Shove off, Quil," Brady laughed good-naturedly. "I still have some time before that part of the party starts. Let me enjoy some time with my girl."

"Speaking of," Jared said, coming up from behind. "Are we still taking bets on which imprint gets drunk first?" All of the guys turned towards the house where the girls were collected around their own bottles of alcohol.

"I don't know," Jacob replied, watching as Kim poured the gathering of girls liberal amounts of tequila shots. "The party just started twenty minutes ago and per my count that's round four."

"Is it safe to leave Paul in there?" Seth asked, watching the proverbial fox in the hen house. He had arrived fifteen minutes ago and had yet to leave his young imprint's side. She seemed to be okay, though, and it puzzled some of the guys as to why Paul was still inside, not drinking, while everyone else had split within the first two minutes of arriving at Sam's.

"Relax," Collin offered, "The girls only do this a few times a year, let them have their fun." He pulled out a bottle of higher proofed alcohol. Homemade Rez moonshine, to be exact. The guys cheered in approval, most quickly finishing their beers to hold out empty cups for the sting.

"As for Paul," Jacob added as his glass was filled, "he'll be put here soon enough to fuck this up."

Jared clenched his jaw in irritation. "Lay off of him, man. He's just trying to cope as best as he can."

"Why you're friends with him is beyond me, Cameron," Jacob shot back, still angry about this morning's hunting for Paul trip.

"He's a good guy and you know it, Black," Jared returned with the same level of contempt. "All of us went through it at one stage or another with our girls; why give Paul shit about his?"

"I'm not giving him shit about his girl! I'm giving him shit because he's using his girl as an excuse to act like an even bigger ass." Jacob swallowed the rest of his drink quickly, holding the cup back out towards the pouring liquor. "I feel sorry for her and hope Uley takes care of that shit soon."

"Hope Uley takes care of what?" Sam asked, joining the group with Paul in tow. The man was still staring at the house as if he had been forcibly dragged from it.

"Hi, Sam. Hey, does anyone else hear Embry's car? That's him, right? He should be back by now with the pizzas. Man, am I hungry. Maybe I'll go into business and start my own pizza place. That'd be pretty good, huh? Lots of people like pizza and it wouldn't have to be just pizza, I could do burgers and wings and salads, too. You know, for the girls. Claudia likes salad, she'd probably be pretty mad if I opened a restaurant and didn't have some healthy things on the menu."

Eight wolves stared in bewilderment at Seth Clearwater.

"Holy shit," Brady remarked. "That's got to be a record. Less than a minute and my buzz is already gone. How the hell do you do that, Seth?"

Quil was the first of the wolves to start laughing at Seth's attempt of diverting a fight. "What I want to know is how he's managed to survive this long without his imprint duct taping his damn mouth shut!"

Paul was too occupied still with the house to notice the distraction, but Uley narrowed his eyes towards Jacob. It had been decided that if the girl, Arial, had spoken, sooner or later she would tell them her real name and history. In the next few weeks a bonfire gathering would be planned to explain to the girl about Paul and the pack's abilities, the connection between Paul and Arial, and what it meant for all of them.

Sam had been specific that the pack leave the man alone for now. He had his hands full already and if they kept his 'collar' too tight on the rez, the man's natural anger could easily spill over either at work or worse, in his home where his imprint lived virtually defenseless. The leader was confident that if Arial hadn't talked before the bonfire, surely she would after, if for no other reason than to ask to leave.

Jacob simply shook his head and shrugged his shoulders, indicating to Sam that he would drop it for now. No one else cared nor bothered to figure out what had been going on. Embry showed up a few minutes later, the tantalizing scent of fast-food Italian surrounding the man like a cloud of perfume.

Even Paul became distracted, joining in the laughter and teasing as he grabbed a drink and pizza. He had information for Sam, good information for once and he wanted to relax and enjoy himself for a bit. His girl was close enough to be safe and protected if need be. As the minutes passed by, he relaxed more and more, sitting by the fire to listen to the guys shoot the shit about nothing in particular. It wasn't often he got to be normal and he was sure as fuck going to enjoy it while he could.

* * *

><p>Claudia wasn't the health food zealot the other girls accused her of, but she did try to maintain good eating habits. Although meat was practically essential for her man Seth, she herself couldn't stand the thought of eating it. Sugar, too, wasn't exactly devil's food, but if she could avoid it, she would. Alcohol was in a class of its own. She never drank casually and rarely at events unless it was for the purpose of a toast. However, these few pack night gatherings, where all the girls gathered to really have fun, Claudia did drink without reservation.<p>

"Arial, you aren't drinking," Claudia noticed with concern immediately after Paul was out of earshot. "Come on, you have to a do a few shots with us girls."

Leah looked between the two girls before nodding her head in agreement. "It's okay, Arial, none of us will be driving and your man is out back getting shit faced as we speak."

Sniffing the glass carefully, the smaller girl's nose crinkled in apprehension. It didn't smell very good and she'd much rather just have some water. She failed to notice when both Regina and Denise flanked her.

"One gulp. Tilt your head back and drink it until it's gone before you try to breathe," Regina instructed. Denise grabbed the bottom of the glass, pushing it up to force Arial's compliance. It wasn't intended to be a mean spirited gesture.

Choking and sputtering, Bella tried to move her head to avoid the liquid, realizing at the last second if she did that, she'd become wet with the beverage and cause a puddle on the ground. Her Leah friend didn't look as if she was trying to be hurtful and Bella slowly accepted the idea that this was supposed to be fun.

The liquid burned her lips and tongue and Bella hadn't felt this much throat pain since that last time the monsters had left her with a mean man. Like then, her eyes shut with the memory, the scents and sounds different yet stifling. Her lungs hurt a bit when she did finally breathe, Denise taking the glass to plunk down on the nearby counter.

"That a girl!" Nadine hooted loudly before erupting into giggles. Everywhere Bella looked, everyone was smiling, talking and laughing. None of them looked like they wanted to hurt her, not even that mean Claudia person who was laughing so hard she kept spitting her drink back into a glass.

Bella didn't require assistance when she was handed a second glass of liquid. It was a different color, but the smell still caused her eyes to water She caught Leah's friendly stare and both of them raised their glasses to drink.

Leah lowered her glass after only one swallow, expecting Arial to do the same. "Wow," she said after the glass had been emptied, "that was impressive. But you might want to slow down or you're going to be the first one drunk here."

"Don't bet on it," Nadine bragged, holding out her cup for Claire to refill. Claudia stepped up as well and using a different bottle of liquor poured simultaneously with Claire into Nadine's drink.

"Slow down, drunkies," Leah laughed as Denise joined into the pouring fun, grabbing a third bottle to pour in as well.

Emily, the lone imprint not drinking, smiled happily and enjoying everyone's company. "Yeah, Leah is right. Embry should be here any minute with the pizzas. Wait until after dinner before you guys drown yourselves in that."

"Speak of the devil," Kim announced as a man hidden behind a tower of pizza boxes strolled down the hallway. If it hadn't been for the numerous other women around here, Bella would've been petrified. As it was, she hedged closer to Leah, not necessarily behind the taller woman but definitely beside her.

Embry sat them all on the counter, some cups falling over and people rushing about to grab paper towels. "Alright, the top three are for you girls. Cheese, pepperoni and… I have no idea what the hell is on the last one," he said, trying to decipher the toppings.

"It's a vegan pizza," Claudia proclaimed, stepping forward to grab the box. "The crust is tofu."

"Tofu is not pizza," one of girls stated, a scattering of snickers sounding in agreement. "There's not even cheese on it. Just sauce and veggies."

Claudia didn't take offense to the teasing she was well used to by now. "Shut up and drink some more," she laughed aloud. "Two or three glasses later and you won't even be able to tell the difference between this and the other boxes."

Embry just rolled his eyes while the girls ribbed each other about Claudia's choice in pizza flavors. Before taking the remaining boxes outside to the boys, he stepped over to Emily, kissing her on top of the head and whispering in her ear to make sure she was okay, comfortable and didn't need anything, like a piece of man's pizza.

Once he left, Bella began to relax even more, the alcohol coursing through her system in a warm, fuzzy motion. Her coordination, never the best to begin with, was extremely sloppy. Her plate of pizza kept sliding dangerously in the direction of the floor even when she held on to it. After several near drops, she decided the counter would be best and went to find a narrow sliver not occupied by someone.

She never saw the person, but Bella heard the hiss of displeasure when she backed up and accidently stepped on someone's foot. Her eyes didn't really want to focus and when Bella turned around, it seemed as if she could've stepped on anyone or maybe no one because there weren't any angry faces. At least none she could make out.

"We are definitely going to have to think of more appropriate activities when more of us have kids that will be at the party," Nadine said loudly to the crowd.

All eyes went to Emily and the soon to be mom just laughed. "Are you kidding? That's what grandparents are for." A small round of applause filled the room. "I can't wait to have my baby so next year I can be with you guys, drinking and relaxing again."

"You better run that plan by Embry," Kim slurred slightly, a happy grin plastered across his face. "That boy is gonna drive all of us insane. How do you stand it?"

Emily launched into a story about her wolf's careful tenderness. She had moved to the dining room table and most followed, their attention focused on how best to keep the upper hand if you decided to have kids with your wolf and what pitfalls to avoid.

Denise grabbed Claudia by the sleeve and pulled her back into the kitchen, her eyes darting around the area for Arial while she opened the fridge and pulled out a jar of jalapenos.

"Oh, good," Claudia nodded in approval. "I forgot to add those to the tofu pizza. It needs a little zest." She grabbed one of the peppers from the jar and popped it into her mouth.

"Yeah, you like them, but what about the others?" Denise asked, smirking.

"No one else is probably going to touch my pizza. I'm good."

"Yeah, but I thought you could put some on a piece for Arial." Denise nudged Claudia meaningfully and nodded her head to the silent girl.

Claudia perked up in approval. If anything could make someone speak, it would be a mouthful of unexpected peppers. Assuming the Arial chick didn't know what they were. Seth had told her last week, though, that Arial could talk, but that no one was to push the issue and make her feel uncomfortable about it. Claudia thought it was just another cover up to protect a faker.

She located her target hovering in the doorway facing away from them. It was entirely possible that Arial wouldn't eat the pepper or that she would eat it and already knew it would be spicy tasting. Claudia decided to up her game. She reached back in the fridge and extracted a small, opaque jar from the back, Denise's eyes growing large with the realization of what was in it.

"Oh my god, Dia, you can't do that. Shit, you're gonna kill her!"

"Shut up," Claudia instructed, looking up to make sure no one had heard the last comment. "It won't kill her but it'll burn, that's for sure."

Denise laughed, agreeing the idea of feeding Arial a habanero pepper in place of a jalapeno nothing but a harmless prank. "Paul is going to kick your ass if you do that. Here, give me the jar so we don't have to play interrogation all night."

The trap was set before either girl could think it through. With the selected piece on a plate, Denise approached the quiet figure of Arial, tapping her on the shoulder to gain her attention.

"Hey, Arial, you wanna try some of our pizza?" Denise asked, cracking up in laughter due to the alcohol she had been drinking. Drunkenly she faced Claudia and spoke in a deep, gravelly voice. "Hey, little girl, you want some pizza?"

"I do! I want some more!" Nadine yelled from the other room, tripping over feet to get to the kitchen.

"How did you hear that?" Denise asked, dumbfounded, trying to figure out why Nadine was answering for Arial.

"How did they," Nadine asked, pointing to the imprints in the dining room, "not hear it? Is there any left?"

"There's plenty of mine," Claudia offered, pushing away the habanero laced piece and pointing to the rest of pie.

Nadine stared at the tofu pizza for a full minute, her mind whirling. "Fine, okay," she huffed out in acceptance. "But dig around and find some cheese first. It needs cheese."

Denise, forgetting about Arial, wobbled her way to a set of cabinets, flinging open the doors in search of cheese. Claudia, not as buzzed as her friend, tried to keep one eye on the special piece meant for Arial. She became distracted when Regina stumbled back into the kitchen with them, laughing hysterically as they discussed loudly why the cheese search wasn't taking place in the fridge.

"Here you go, you picky bitch," Denise laughed, pulling out the can she had been searching for. Thirty seconds later a piece of the tofu pizza was drowned in canned Cheeze-Whiz, the unnatural orange color glaringly bright to its onlookers.

Bella didn't feel hungry and she didn't want any more pizza, but the Denise lady had made the offer sound friendly and something that others usually agreed to, like Nadine had. She had to learn to take her cues from these women; these were the types of things people who gathered together did.

Not wanting to interrupt those who were happily discussing the shade of weird brightness going on at the far end of the counter, Bella inched to where her piece had been pushed. The things on top of her pizza weren't the funky orange, instead a deep scarlet red that Bella normally would have shied away from.

A normal person might have assumed it was the alcohol. Or perhaps they would've been too far gone to pay attention to the signs of intoxication. It did not occur to any of the people, including Paul, that Bella-Urchin-Arial was unaware of the effects liquor had on self-preservation. No one paid the slightest bit of attention as the newest imprint picked up the pepper tainted piece and took a large bite.

The pain was delayed, but when it hit Bella made more of a mess than she could have if she had set out to purposely do so. There was no air for her to scream; no air to form words she might have made if need be to express her pain; there was no air to breathe. Her hands went to her throat as if she was being choked, her eyes watering as if she were standing underneath a source of running water. Was this death?

Bella hit something with her upper torso first, unaware that it was a person who thought she was trying to be funny. She released her throat in a desperate attempt to reach for some type of unknown salvation, her arms sweeping across the kitchen counter. Plates, bottles, food and liquid crashed to the floor. It was the sound of shattering glass that alerted the unaware imprints all was not well.

Emily tried to make her way into the kitchen to figure out if anyone was hurt, but Leah held her back, telling her to stay in the dining room until she knew what was going on. Her grip was loose and sloppy; like everyone else except Emily, Leah was definitely drunk and she sort of giggled. There were other scattered giggles as well; no one understanding what was happening, including Denise and Claudia who had set up the prank to begin with.

"Someone's feeling it," Claire hiccupped, trying to keep a straight face. The draft of cold air had most turning to the back door where Sam and several of the other guys stood.

"Are you okay, Emily?" Embry asked, pushing his way to the front of the crowd. His concern was for her and her alone, everyone else still trying to figure out the awkward motions of Arial. The wolves weren't as drunk as the girls, but they also weren't as sharp as they were supposed to be.

One of the wolves to enter the house as well was Quil. He was laughing at what, to the casual observer, would be normal antics from a bunch of young drunk people. Even still, his nose twitched in apprehension at the smell of something off. Taking another deep whiff, it occurred to the pack garbage disposal that he knew that smell all too well.

'Alright," Quil laughed loudly, pointing towards his own giggling girl. "Whose bright idea was it to try and eat hab-peppers? You guys are really crazy tonight!"

Bella still felt as if her throat was being burned with an iron. She had once seen the monsters seal a man's mouth closed that way, a memory she had long forgotten until just now. Not without effort, she was finally able to scream, uncaring as to what any punishment or consequences may be. She hurt bad and wanted everything to just go away.

Large, warm things grabbed at her, holding her still on the floor. Bella didn't care. She couldn't see, couldn't focus enough to hear anyone telling her things and howled until her mouth was filled with something cold, wet and comforting.

"You better turn her fucking head sideways, Collin," Paul yelled as he poured milk directly from a carton into her open mouth. "She's not coherent enough to know we're trying to help her and you'll fucking choke her holding her face up!"

While it was Paul who was taking care of his girl, it was Sam standing directly behind him, ready to throw his own body on top of Paul's when the man turned on his pack. This wasn't as simple as a careless comment in reference to Arial that Paul would be able to punch a brother and be done with it. Nobody knew what had happened, who had started it or if it was even intentional.

Jacob and Embry had herded the girls out by the bonfire, seats set up and the rest of the inside pizza disposed of by Jared and Seth. Everyone felt bad for Arial, but the general consensus had been that she accidently grabbed the peppers and tried one without knowing what they were. Either that or she had thought they were a milder pepper. Brady had also suggested that maybe Arial was colorblind and that contributed to her mistake of eating the peppers.

"Come on, Bella. Relax, please," Paul whispered softly.

There were no easy fixes for pepper burns. They'd have to wait until the oil was diluted enough to decrease the sensation of pain, milk being the best theorized solution. Thank fuck most of the wolves preferred whole to skim. Paul had used most of what Sam and Leah had on hand, although most of it covered the floor. Once his girl had calmed down enough to realize she would be okay, Paul would be able to explain she needed to actually drink it.

"Who's Bella?" Sam asked in concern. If Paul was so far gone that he was calling his imprint by an unknown name, he would need more backup to restrain the man.

"Urchin. Urchin is Bella." Paul poured more milk into her mouth, noticing that her struggles were weakening and that at least her body was receiving some relief from the liquid. "That was what I wanted to tell you. I figured I'd just wait 'til after the bonfire shit."

"So she told you? Paul's that's great! What else did she say?"

"Nothing and no she didn't fucking tell me. We spent the day earlier watching that damn cartoon you sent home with her and I guessed. That was a real shitty thing, too, Uley! She fucking flipped out and we had been having a pretty good fucking day up until then."

"No pain, no gain," Collin muttered unthinkingly. He wasn't quick enough to miss the head slap Paul delivered.

"Do I need to painfully beat the shit out of you for you to gain some sense, Littlesea?" Paul demanded, his eyes straying away from Urchin long enough to make sure his point had been made.

Unconcerned about the condition of Collin's head, Sam jumped back onto the subject at hand. "But we at least know her name. Why didn't you say something earlier so the girls could stop calling her by the wrong name?"

"Let go now, Collin. She's relaxing," Paul instructed. "Are you deaf, Alpha? I already fucking just said she flipped out. I don't know why, but she doesn't want people to use it. Before you go blabbing to the idiots, I figured I could fucking get her used to it first. If she isn't fucking comfortable with me using it, you losers don't have a chance in hell."

Urchin's eyes blinked open from their previous tensed squeezing. Paul set the milk aside and reached for her hand, letting her know it was just him and not some weird asshole. Just in case the guys missed the memo, he gave them the clear-out-or-lose-it look. Worked every goddamn time, too.

Bella still felt immense pain. She could at least breathe now, but it hurt. She had no idea that her Paul had been pouring milk into her mouth. Whatever the stuff had been had felt good. Except, as nice as it had felt, she was beyond full and her stomach twisted funnily. She still didn't care about her surroundings and had no energy to fight. It was simple instincts that rolled her to the side, her unnaturally full tummy deciding to empty itself.

As quickly as she had been sick, she rolled over in the other direction, away from the mess and into a large body. Bella hoped that if it was someone meant to hurt her, they did it quickly. Dying sounded like an option.

"Fuck, is that blood?"

"Pizza, dumbass. Shut the fuck up already and leave."

"Take her to the bathroom, Paul. We can clean this up."

The sudden feeling of being lifted off of the ground must be her Paul man. Bella waited until she heard a door closing before she tried to open her eyes. Opened or closed they still leaked tears.

"I know it hurts, Urchin. And you probably feel like real shit now after you hacked everything back up," Paul explained as he set her on a countertop, his arms acting as braces. She was grateful for that.

"Do you want to try to stand over the sink to rinse your mouth or do you still feel like puking? I can hold you over the can if you need me to."

Bella's tears of pain began to mingle with ones of shame as she processed his words. She had vomited all over her Leah friend's floor and then the Paul man had taken her away before she could apologize or clean it up.

"Holding it is," Paul said, scooping Bella back up, using his foot to lift the lid of the toilet and then squatting down in front of it with her.

In another time or place, Bella might have found it funny that her Paul was dangling her over a toilet in preparation for her to be sick. It might be gross, but you had to have some sort of feelings for a person to be willing to stick around with them when you thought they were going to be sick. Thankfully, she didn't need to vomit again and she was grateful Paul recognized that when she tried to squirm backwards.

"Are you sure, Urchin? You still look pasty as shit."

She wanted to answer him but the pain in her mouth was increasing again. The tears simply increased but when she pointed to her mouth, he seemed to understand.

"C'mon. I know you just threw up everything, but if you drink the milk it should help like earlier."

* * *

><p>Paul wanted to leave this shit party yesterday. It had been hours since the pepper fiasco, the others reestablishing the drunk buzzes they had lost from earlier. Most had stayed outside to get their drink on.<p>

His girl was still in a lot of fucking pain -unnecessary shit pain- but Sam had already ruled the incident an accident. It probably was, they happened occasionally but that did nothing to calm his ass down or make him feel any fucking better. And if the situation wasn't fuck-tarded enough, they were sitting outside in forty degree weather, away from the bonfire while Urchin tried to eat ice cream to help her damn burning mouth and throat.

Emily had been the only one to look up remedies and ice cream was much like milk. The supposed colder temperature of it also aided in relief and while Paul was grateful, he wasn't sure sitting outside away from the heat source Urchin was terrified of was the best thing. For fuck's sake, someone had fucked over a damn pizza party and turned it into this miserable shit-fest he and Urchin were still at, for reasons he had yet to figure the fuck out.

On instinct, he opened his mouth to accept a large bite of ice cream that held too many chopped nuts for Urchin's liking. She probably couldn't handle the feel of them against the inside of her burnt cheeks. Despite the various states of intoxication, Paul was the only one at the party who failed to notice he was being spoon fed by his girl or that a drunk Nadine snapped some pictures of it before Jake took her phone away.

He was mentally ranting away when Sam started a tale of horror. The story itself would have been disturbing to anyone who hadn't heard it a million times before. It was a tradition for the pack, though, and the imprints gasped and cowered during the appropriate lulls, knowing what was to come, but enjoying the show. Nobody noticed that Urchin was also paying rapt attention.

A popular camping area suddenly losing large groups of hikers and vacationers. It was common for one or two to disappear every summer, but this place was losing five or six a week. Entire sites were found to have been abandoned for no reason. No tracks to mark an attack from wildlife, no signs of a struggle to indicate some crazy asshole had been on the loose and even the local UFO weirdo watchers hadn't experienced an increase of lights-in-the-sky phone calls. The people vanished from their locations with no logic. Some hadn't even been camping too far in the park, their gear visible from the damn road and still the people ceased to be anywhere.

The wolves could hear the approach but the imprints couldn't and despite wanting to know in advance the guys went along with the joke. The only exception was Embry. He didn't say anything or indicate the surprise was close but his arms tightened subtly around Emily's waist, his hands moving in a soothing pattern to give her a heads up not to tense up.

"Tom decided he was going to set up video cameras to try and record some pictures." Sam's voice had lowered gradually, to the point where most of the girls were leaning in closer to hear the story that held their attention entirely.

"It was late afternoon, still hours away from nightfall and he knew he had some time. The first camera he went to set up was about 300 yards from his tent. He had also made some poor-man alert lines with fishing line and cans. He gets the line tied between two trees halfway to where he planned to set up the camera.

"The line got snagged and Tom realized he had left his knife back at the site. He wasn't about to go back, he needed to keep the area free from as many prints as he could. So he leans up to the tree and plans to just bite through the line and retie it. He bends over, prepared to chew and—"

"BAM!" Brady roared from behind Kim and Claire, his hands lightly pushing their heads together in a soft impact motion.

Bella and Paul were sitting far enough away for her not to be able to see Fuller's makeup and fake props but everyone around the fire could see it. Each wolf who was the selected was required to make their own costume. In order to keep the event from getting boring, they mixed it up to their own liking and Brady had done an excellent job at creating terror.

His flesh was coated in some type of eerie white paint, tiny flecks of pink and red shimmering through the areas that were meant to be flesh while the rest was left to look like a decaying corpse dirty gray and black skin boogers hanging like shredded flesh.

In order for the guys to have a larger target area, his upper torso was also decorated, clinging pieces of latex meant to look as if his skin was molting.

Prosthetics had been glued as well, mimicking an extending jaw he could push out with his tongue, the action hidden beneath the makeup. The extra teeth in the jaw rolled in and out slowly, a moaning hiss accompanying the action and making the girls scream even louder.

"Vampire!" Collin yelled, adding to the outcries.

Kim and Claire were rooted in terror. They knew it was only Brady and that he would be doing something like this but it was a lot like a haunted house. Just because you knew you were supposed to be surprised, that didn't stop the heart from racing or real fear setting in when something popped out. Even when he moved away to scare others, their wolves had to physically move them.

Bella had been startled and worried at first when the Brady person had jumped out, but when the Collin man said the word 'vampire', she tried to run. Like so many of her previous actions, this was another behavior that Underground people were ingrained with. There were fights, but mostly there were only flights and you hoped you were quick enough to disappear.

Her Paul man wouldn't let her go. She tried to throw herself from his arms, but he only laughed and picked her up, taking her over to where most of the other girls had gathered.

"It's no big deal, Urchin. We'll handle this," her Paul man said. He thought nothing of leaving her there while he joined the other men to fight the monster. Bella knew they would all die.

She wanted to leave, to run, to dig a hole and hide! It was too late. The vampire was coming to where the Paul man had left her. It was scary looking to be sure, and Bella couldn't understand why it looked the way it did, but she was willing to believe it was a vampire. She didn't recognize this demon, he wasn't one of her previous captors, but she had heard stories that others existed. They must have found her. That's what this was all about, her disobedience and now all of these nice people, even the mean Claudia, were going to die because Bella had left the Underground without permission.

Bella could no longer see where all of the guys had gone, a question she had trouble concentrating on. Did they make it or was another monster torturing them in the trees?

The attack was quick and Nadine was grabbed first, her look of surprise almost painful. Bella wanted to reach out and hold her hand, let her know it would probably be quick –hopefully—and that to fight them would only extend the pain.

She heard the Nadine woman scream 'no' and someone else laughing at her. Bella couldn't watch anymore. With no hope or protection in sight, Bella knew she would die this night. For one brief moment she wished her Paul man had stayed by her side. He might think he could get away, but he wouldn't.

More shouts and scream filled the air, people were laughing out of control and Bella saw it all only in the form of shadows dancing behind her closed eyes. She felt the ground and realized she had sank down on to her knees, head bowed, awaiting her punishment.

The creature came for her eventually, her body being lifted from under her arms in a hard grip. The voice that spoke to her wasn't pretty, though. She had never heard a monster with an ugly voice.

"You might be small, but you smell good," the Brady thing hissed directly into her ear.

Oh, god, she had heard those words before. It was her saving grace from the previous Underground demons. Did this one know that? If he didn't, would he think it to be a bonus?

"Put her the fuck down, you piece of shit!" The Paul man yelled from somewhere close by.

Bella whimpered in sadness. He hadn't left her, but now it was too late. She opened her eyes for the final look at the only man who had ever shown her kindness. She felt the wet spray of liquid splash across her face, an arc of blood sure to look black in the dim light of the yard.

"Fuck, Paul!" Brady complained as he sat Bella back down. "You weren't supposed to dump the whole bottle on me. Now I look like I pissed myself."

"Whatever, shitter. You lose. Be a good bloodsucker and play dead so we can take the pictures."

Brady grabbed his chest, then his back, hunching over. "Oh. Ow. Yikes. The pain. It hurts."

"Quit fucking around or I'll make it hurt," Quil shouted, laughing with others while they threw water balloons filled with vinegar at Brady, the vampire victim of their party this year.

The vinegar reacted with the baking soda Brady had mixed with his body paint, making it look as if he was "dying". The guys knew this wasn't how a real vampire acted or died. Their casual play of killing a Halloween vamp helped to contain the stress some of the imprints felt when their men had to face real monsters.

It had been a unanimous pack decision to spare the girls the horrifying reality of what was needed to kill one. There was no benefit in scaring an imprint with the knowledge that should they meet a live vampire, the chance of survival was less than none.

Bella wondered why she could still hear people talking if she was dead. Was this what happened when you died, you heard people talking who were still alive? But then how was her Paul man still alive? Maybe they were all dead and that's why they could still hear each other and talk.

"Open your eyes, Urchin. It's over," Paul said, his warm breath fanning across her closed eyes.

For the first time, Bella contemplated not following a direct order made by a man. If this was a hallucination and her Paul man was only alive here, she wanted to stay as long as possible.

"Hey, are you alright, Urchin? It's almost over."

This time her Paul sounded sad and scared. Bella reached her hand out to find his, the feel of his warmth a comfort beyond words. With the hesitation of a soul being told to exit the promised land, she opened her eyes to be met with her answered prayer.

Her Paul man smiled, his gaze locked on hers. "Once they string Brady up by his damn feet –literally this year, thanks to me—and take a shitload of funny pictures, the noise will die down and people will start to find tents. You wanna crash here or home?"

Bella was still having a difficult time understanding what was happening. The monster vampire Brady person was fake? She didn't get it. A sharp yelp from across the yard didn't explain much either. Most of the people there were gathered around a large tree where the Brady monster was hanging upside down and the others were still throwing things at him.

"You wanna throw a balloon at him, Urchin?" Paul offered, holding out something that looked like a small brightly colored sandwich baggie.

Bella couldn't shake her head no fast enough. She didn't want to risk anyone's anger and was happy to stay where she and Paul were until she could crawl into a tent and hide there.

Her Paul just laughed. "Okay, be that way if you want to, Urchin, but I'm not missing a final few free punches," he said determinedly. His arm snaked around her legs and he picked her up one armed to trot over to where most of the group was gathered.

"Open wide, bitch!" Paul yelled out before throwing the balloon he had offered Bella. It hit Brady directly in the mouth and the man who had been pleading with Quil and Jared to 'stop fucking bitch smacking me in the same stomach location' sputtered in renewed anger.

"Whoa, nice shot, Lahote," Embry congratulated, slapping at Paul's free shoulder in amusement.

"Poor form, man," Brady objected, wiping at his face to remove more of the bubbling makeup. "Am I done yet, Uley? Can you please let me the fuck down so I can shower this shit off?"

"No fucking way! You smell like a Long John Silver's dumpster drunk," Jared cackled. He was wheezing in good spirits next to Quil who was partially supporting the man's weight as he leaned over to catch his breath.

"Yeah, that smells about right," Leah agreed. "Oh shit!" She hollered with several others in surprise when the garden hose came to life and sprayed the crowd a few times before focusing on Brady.

Bella's stare was of morbid confusion. The Brady monster wasn't able to free himself from a simple rope. The hose water was eating away at his skin and while he was complaining about the temperature, there were no signs of pain or distress as his skin sloughed away in white chunks. He was dropping away in pieces and there were no screams from him!

"Urchin, you need to stop staring," her Paul man demanded, snapping his fingers in front of her face. "He's about to strip his clothes. Give the idiot some privacy."

Bella blinked in apprehension, her eyes sweeping away from the Brady man. He was no longer suspended upside down and instead was standing upright with the Regina lady holding out clean clothes.

The Paul man's irritation turned back into concern. "You look like you've seen a ghost, Urchin, or a real fucking vampire. What gives?"

Kneeling once again in front of her, he held her and her undivided attention as Bella struggled to convey her worries. She reached for his hands again, clutching tightly in desperation, her mouth working to make words he would understand.

"Mmm…..mhhh…muuuuhhh….."

"Holy fuck," Paul whispered, falling forward out of his crouch and onto his knees in shock.

"Mmmhh….mhhuu," Bella said, becoming frustrated with herself.

Tears formed quickly and her breath hitched as she tried again and again to ask her Paul the one simple question that stood between their lives or deaths tonight. He didn't know what was happening and by his look, he didn't seem to be in any great hurry to find either. Bella blamed herself for his lack of understanding.

"Mmmh….muhhss…." Bella pulled one of her hands away from the Paul man to wipe her eyes. "Mmmmussher?"

"I don't, I'm fucking, what, fuck!" Paul answered her, totally fucking lost as to what the fuck was going on. His wolf came online in this time of derangement and gave Paul a sharp, mental kick to his ass. His confusion didn't matter; he needed to help Urchin through hers first.

"Shh, Urchin, calm down, okay? You're all worked up, and I'm trying to figure out why, but I feel like I've fucking missed something." He pulled her closer into his body's warmth and looked around, making sure none of the other pack morons were paying attention to them.

Everyone seemed to be gathered back around the fire, passing the cameras around to share their favorite caught poses. Brady was trying to plead with several to delete certain shots and Collin had Seth helping him dispense more liquor. Nobody seemed to give two shits about what was taking place with him and his girl and Paul fucking preferred that for now.

"Look, I know you really want to tell me something and I'd be fucking giddy as shit to hear it, too. But whatever it is sounds like you'd rather shove a cactus up your…never fucking mind. But it does sound like you really don't fucking want to, say it, that is, and no one here can make you, neither. Just…fuck, just calm down and if you can, say it, but don't fucking push yourself, okay?"

Paul felt like smacking himself for that load of shit. He sounded like a crack addict on heroin just now and if he couldn't understand his own damn logic, poor Urchin would be clueless.

"Lemme try that again," Paul said. "I need you to relax for me, okay? Take a breath," he inhaled himself, waiting for Urchin to follow suit, "then breathe out and keep doing that shit until you feel better."

When Urchin was back to being somewhat relaxed, Paul convinced her now was a really bad fucking time to practice talking. He wasn't ashamed or any of that shit, but if the others heard her, they'd want to come over and help and wouldn't she prefer for that shit to be private?

His Urchin seemed less inclined to go with that idea, her nerves wired tighter than a nerdy kid's junk tied to a flagpole. It took the sight of several couples heading into tents to convince her they should probably do the same. And then the night got worse.

Paul couldn't sleep because Urchin was still freaking. Every rustle of a leaf or wisp of a wind caused her to bolt upright in terror, shaking and staring at the tent door. Jesus, Paul knew this was a shit idea to begin with. Why the fuck had he hoped otherwise?

His wolf knew why. This large gathering of the wolves and their significant others was normal. Urchin didn't understand what they were and once again the fault was entirely Paul's fucking fault. If he had just sucked it up and followed through on Uley's suggestion, his Nancy ass would've been better off. His girl still might not like sleeping outside or bonfires and shit, but she'd be more inclined to participate knowing it was meant to be a happy "pack" celebration. Other people might view it as stupid—Hell, Paul had called it worse—but traditions ran deep. He spent the remainder of the night trying to cuddle his Urchin, whispering reassurances and hoping and fucking praying she'd believe him.


End file.
